Gentle Touches
by animal8
Summary: The Cullen boys come across a strange girl when out hunting. What will they do with her? What happened to put her in that condition? With the help of our heroes, will Bella be able to regain herself? But something is different she's not quite human...
1. Little Girl Lost

**Gentle Touches**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, it belongs to Stephanie Meyer, though fortunately, I do own the story plot for this fanfiction ;D****

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Chapter 1 – Little Girl Lost 

(EPOV)

The blood ran hot down my throat, the sweet substance not completely satiating the burning of the flesh there, but quenching it to bearable levels. Slowly, as the creature became lifeless, the flow of life fluid stemmed and came to a stop.

I sighed and released the now still and stiff carcass of the deer, turning to find my brothers waiting in the shadows of the nearby trees.

"Are you finished?" Jasper asked; one eyebrow rose in question. I nodded and prepared to run with them back to the house.

Normally, we would avoid any frequented human campsites, but something seemed to be drawing me away from the others, begging me to investigate. I came to a stop and sniffed tentatively at the air.

Emmett ran back to my side, eyeing me cautiously. _Dude, what's up?_ He thought to me. I responded with a shrug, distracted as the breeze changed direction, carrying a recent scent of…something.

"What is that?" Emmett frowned, tensing slightly.

"I don't know," I murmured back to him as I bolted towards the source, keeping the scent in my nose at all times. _Edward, what's going on?_ Jasper was demanding as he followed me some way behind.

An old, abandoned cabin lay ahead. The wood was clearly rotting and the roof of the shelter had partially collapsed. My feet stilled as I took in the detail and waited for my brothers to catch up.

Jasper was the first to reach my side, tense and alert, scanning the area with both eyes and nose. "The scent must be coming from inside," he noted. I nodded, but made no move to approach.

"So, what are we doing standing here?" Emmett asked, his thoughts showing his eagerness to investigate whatever this was. He led the way over to the cabin, me and Jasper following after exchanging a shrug.

Inside, the state of the cabin was no better. The floors were filthy and the place smelled strongly of damp and mildew; not ideal conditions for anyone to be living in. "Whoa, this place is a mess," Emmett stated bluntly.

"Nicely observed, Emmett," Jasper said dryly. He was heading to one of the doors and started poking around in the room there, Emmett and I mimicked his actions with the other doors. "What brought you here, Edward?" Jasper asked, "This place is empty".

"I'm not so sure about that," Emmett whispered before I could have a chance to answer his question. We both looked over to him and he waved his arm, sensing our hesitation.

He stepped out of the doorway to allow us to peer in and we simultaneously let out a breath at what we saw. Curled into the far corner of the room, on her side with her arms and legs bundled together tightly, eyes shut, was a young girl. I couldn't guess her age because of the state she was in, but I would say she was no older than seventeen or eighteen.

She was obviously in a poor way, from here with my enhanced eyesight I could see her ribs standing out despite the loose clothing that hung to her frame and she looked very weak. "What do we do with her?" Emmett asked in a whisper.

"We can't leave her here," I said firmly, not moving my gaze from the innocent, helpless form that was now shuddering further into the corner.

Neither of them argued, but Jasper added, "What do we do then?"

I knew she needed help and that we should probably take her to the hospital, but I didn't feel that was the right thing to do; to just take her away only to dump her in some other foreign place. "We take her to Carlisle," I said decisively.

"You'll have to carry her," Jasper said, thinking about the risk of having her blood so close to them, knowing I had the best restraint. "Careful though, she's very afraid, I think she's aware that we're here".

I took note of his warning, also seeing that despite what she knew she had made no move to get away from us. Cautiously, I took a step forward. When the girl didn't react I moved again until I was crouched next to her. This movement, however, caused her to cringe away and her trembling increased as she tried to force herself deeper into the corner, though she still refused to open her eyes.

Long dark brown hair, only slightly dirty, partially hid her features so I couldn't get a clear look at her. I reached my hand out to lightly brush it back from her face, she jerked away from the contact and I gasped in surprise at how beautiful she was, despite how hollow her face looked.

As if it had a mind of its own, my hand reached out to her again and softly brushed against her cheek. She pulled away again, emitting a sharp growl which startled all of us. "She's wild, that one," Emmett chuckled, amused at the girl's behaviour.

I twisted to glare at him and when I turned back to the girl, I was shocked to find that she was staring back at me warily, her deep brown eyes conveying her emotions of fear and caution and a small crease forming between her brows. "It's okay," I soothed quietly; "We don't want to hurt you". When I tried to take her forearm she pulled it away, tucking it out of reach behind her legs and glared at me.

I stretched my hand out again and placed it gently on her upper arm this time. She flinched and whimpered, her eyes boring into mine pleadingly. I wished I knew what she wanted, but at the same time I was determined to try and help her.

Slowly, I edged closer to her, keeping my hand steady on her, her growling came again, more frantically than last time and at the same time more desperate. I gathered that she really didn't want me anywhere near her, but she was too weak to do anything about it.

When I was practically hovering over her I extended my other arm and gently slid it under her slender form so I could pull her into my arms. She tensed visibly at this new contact and I waited for her to relax before picking her up carefully.

She whimpered and growled at the change in position and started to squirm, trying to find a weakness in my grip where there was none. Her thrashing didn't last long until she collapsed exhausted in my arms.

I stayed still, watching her, but her eyes were clenched shut once more and her whole body held tense. Holding her, I could feel how light she was and I worried about how underfed she had been. Leaving her weight in my elbows, I lifted my hand to tenderly touch one of her fisted hands, moving to her cheek when she snatched that away from me.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I whispered to her, unknowing if she could even understand what I was telling her, just needing to try something to pass across that message. She hesitantly opened her eyes and stared up at me with a piercing, yet still fearful expression, holding my gaze as if she was searching for something.

She must have found it because with a soft sigh she closed her eyes and turned her head marginally into me. I took this for consent or at the least her relenting, and carried her smoothly out of the dilapidated cabin. The light must have startled her as we walked into the daylight because she jerked violently in my arms again and I had to tighten my hold so as not to drop her.

"Dude, how long was she in there?" Emmett wondered aloud at her reaction.

It was a good question, one that I would have considered had I not been too preoccupied by the angel in my arms. "Her smell hadn't fully permeated the place, so I don't think she could have been there long," Jasper broke through my musing, "A few days at most".

"She's in a lot worse condition than spending a few days out here," Emmett stupidly pointed out.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "I said she's only been _here_ a few days," he stressed, "God knows where she was before that".

A strangled noise from the bundle I held alerted Jasper to her growing distress. _We should move, I don't know how much longer it will be safe to keep her like that,_ Jasper thought, seeing her trying to wriggle away again.

I nodded and started running back having to use vampire speed if we hoped to get back before sun down. We weren't using full speed, but she still yelped as we dashed into the woods. I grimaced at the sound and then had to wonder how she knew we were moving like that when she hadn't opened her eyes again.

_Careful, Edward, she's not going to like the sight of the house,_ Alice thought to me as soon as I came into range of her. Sure enough when we slowed in front of the house, the angel opened her eyes and immediately balked at the sight of the white building in front of us.

My fingers brushed her cheek as I murmured quietly, "Its okay, this is my home; we're going to look after you". I don't know if she knew what I meant but she stopped struggling though she was tenser than ever.

Inside the house, I heard Carlisle waiting for us, having been alerted by Alice, and Rosalie, who was seething at me in her mind, waiting with Esme and Alice elsewhere in the house.

"Edward," Carlisle greeted me when I entered and he approached slowly, unthreateningly. His efforts were wasted though for the girl was no more comfortable with him than she was with me, flinching away from his touch and hissing quietly when he made a grab for her wrist.

_Follow me up to the medical room,_ he thought. The medical room was something Carlisle had decided to have set up in case there were any incidents with humans; he liked to take his work home with him. In this case, it was probably very useful to actually have it.

The angel had started shivering heavily during this trip. It was making it difficult for me to be the one to inflict this on her, when she was clearly in no state to be capable of dealing with it. "Just put her here," Carlisle said softly, indicating the hospital bed he had acquired.

As soon as she was out of my arms, she curled herself into as tight a ball as she could get and she was trembling frantically, hiding her face with her eyes closed. It was a pitiful sight, really, to see this vulnerable girl reduced to this. I used my hand to comfortingly stroke her exposed cheek and she flinched at the initial contact but otherwise remained still. I was pleased to see that some of her shaking subsided.

Carlisle was already making notes on her behaviour and watching me interact with her. "Has she spoken at all?" he asked. I shook my head, no. "I'm going to need to look at her. Do you think you could hold her still?"

My father gently held her shoulder with one hand, to which she cringed away from, her shivering increasing, and used his other to turn her onto her back. She struggled when she realised what he was doing, arching her back up against him and I came to help him by holding down her shoulders. Her eyes screamed her betrayal when she looked at me and I winced at it.

He began to give a cursory examination and I was relieved to see in his mind that there were only a few minor lacerations. That relief swiftly morphed into horror when I saw him spot her injured wrists, the long sleeves that had covered them was now pulled up. At first I thought that explained her reluctance to let anyone touch them, but then I saw what had caused them.

_She's been bound,_ Carlisle thought in horror and disgust. The angel's writhing had been reduced into her lying still, breathing rapid, ragged breaths and staring blankly at the ceiling. It concerned me how quickly she had given up her fight; further evidence of her poor physical state.

She surprised me again, though, when my father lifted her arm to inspect the damage and she suddenly exploded into ferocious thrashing. "Shh," I hushed, "Shh, Angel, you're okay; we're not here to hurt you". Carlisle had kept hold of her arm and she wouldn't settle at my soothing.

"I need to bandage these, Edward," he said, "Can you keep her as still as you can while I do it?" I hesitated, looking down at her tortured face, her eyes screwed shut as she twisted and turned. "I know it hurts, son, but it needs to be done, sooner rather than later".

I nodded haltingly, letting go of her shoulders. He left to get the supplies ready and the instant he released her, she recoiled her hand and rolled on her side to return to her ball around her arms, trembling like an avalanche.

Feeling awful for what would be a trauma to her, I trailed my fingertips down her spine, tracing the ridges that were visible there. She flinched, but I expected that and didn't halt my actions. There were tears in her eyes when she opened them to stare at me helplessly and her shaking hadn't eased any by the time Carlisle returned.

She looked up when he drew near but immediately curled tighter, turning her face away into the pillow beneath her. I had a feeling that grabbing her wrist like that crossed some line with her, because she didn't do this to me and I had heeded her warnings about her arms and had carefully avoided coming into contact with them once I got the hint.

"She really doesn't like her wrists being touched," I warned him.

He nodded sadly and met my eye. _I have a feeling it's because of her always being restrained,_ he thought, _she would always associate the two actions of taking her arms and being bound._ I sighed harshly and the noise made her jump again, her trembling faltering.

"It's okay," I whispered again, repeating the same thing I had been telling her. My fingers came over her shoulders causing her to shudder, and I lightly dragged the backs of them across her cheek.

_Edward._ I raised my head to look at him and nodded when I saw he was prepared. "I'm sorry, Angel," I murmured. Her eyes flashed with alarm as I took careful hold of her, manoeuvring her back onto her back. She growled harshly as Carlisle reached for her arm, but she wasn't strong enough to prevent him, even if she had had her full strength.

It was worse when he started applying ointment onto the sensitive skin, making her yelp and twitch which, upon her finding her movement restricted, ended up with her having her head half buried in the pillow and whimpering softly. He wrapped it tightly afterwards with a clean white bandage and relinquished his hold.

This was repeated with her other side and after she was so drained that she simply lay there limply, while he inspected her feet that I had failed to previously notice were actually bare. Some sores were present there, which he treated by dabbing with some antiseptic, but left them uncovered.

"Put her in your bedroom, Edward," Alice spoke quietly through the door, "She'll be more comfortable there".

"Come on, Angel," I said softly. She barely flinched when I scooped her up, but I saw her open her eyes to give me a distrustful look that was bled with her exhaustion. My heart clenched at the sight.

Her eyes had closed again by the time we reached my room and she was still trembling softly. I lay her gently on the bed, having drawn back the covers, and she curled into herself again as I pulled the comforter up to cover her with.

I sat down next to her, perched on the side of the bed. She jumped as it dipped beneath her and started growling again when I tried to reach out to her. Her eyes were open again and she was plainly glaring at me.

My heart ached as I came to the conclusion that whatever trust I had gained with her was now lost despite the limited time I had known her. She understandingly wouldn't trust me after I had, in her mind, betrayed her like that even though I was only trying to help.

"Leave her alone for tonight, Edward," Alice called softly from the doorway again. I wanted to refuse so I could stay with this fragile girl but she was insistent. "She won't sleep with you in there," she argued.

I sighed. It wasn't surprising that she didn't trust me so much anymore; in her mind, I had restrained her against her will and allowed pain to be inflicted upon her. I doubted that she understood that we had just been trying to help her.

Silently, I got up and walked to the door, glancing back one last time to see her closely following my every move. I slipped out and quietly closed the door behind me. Alice was standing there smiling at me sympathetically.

"She'll understand, Edward, just leave her alone for now," she said, "You can see her tomorrow, when she's calmed down some. You can regain her trust".

Despite her assurances, I couldn't help but remember the girl's hate filled looks as I had held her down and her pained, strangled whimpering. I let out another sigh and walked after my sister as she went downstairs.

_It will be fine, brother. _She soothed. _You'll still have a chance to earn her trust, but you need to be patient. It has to be at_ her_ pace._

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**Author's Note: Ok, so this is the first and so far only chapter of this new story. I'm not currently sure where I will be going with this at the minute, however I was hoping to try and gauge people's reactions to this and see what you all think about it, so please click on the helpful little green button below ;D. **

**Also, if you enjoyed this you might like to check out my other two stories _'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'_ and '_Not Enough'_. And there will definitely be more where those came from ;D. I hope that you'll all absolutely love this and encourage me to continue it, though if you don't I would completely understand, but if you could give pointers on hos to improve it? That would be brilliant ;D.**

**So,**

**R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E**

**animal8 xx**


	2. Discussions

**Gentle Touches**

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**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Twilight, it belongs to Stephanie Meyer ;D.**

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Chapter 2 – Discussions (EPOV)

We needed to decide what we were going to do with this girl. It would be dangerous to keep her here as living with a bunch of vampires wouldn't be healthy for any human. But from Carlisle's thoughts, I gathered that he thought it might be a better idea to have her in the house where he could look after her properly.

The rest of the family were crowded together in the dining room as I entered with Alice. She immediately crossed to the corner where Jasper was standing anxiously with his arms crossed.

Carlisle smiled at me sadly. _You know that we had to do that, son._ I nodded in response to his concern. We needed to be worried about the girl, not me.

I sat by his side, Esme was opposite me and Emmett and Rosalie were next to her. "Before we do anything, how is she?" Emmett asked with a frown and images of the strange girl huddled in the corner of the cabin bedroom passed in his mind.

"Physically, she seems fine," Carlisle answered cautiously, "There were some cuts and scrapes as well as obvious abrasions on her feet. There were also rope burns on her wrists where I presume she was bound for long periods from the extent of them, and probably multiple times."

A growl automatically wanted to escape, but I squashed it down. I hated the thought that anyone had hurt such a fragile angel, but I couldn't explain my sudden attachment to this human.

"Mentally and emotionally, however…" he continued then hesitated. I knew what he meant. We didn't know what traumas she had gone through, but she had been reduced to a feral state and we didn't have any idea as to what her learning capabilities were, or even if she was able to communicate at all.

Emmett broke the silence again. "She seems to be in a pretty bad way," he noted sadly, his frown deepening. "She wouldn't even let anyone touch her, and she _growls_," he added.

"Her emotions are unusual, though," Jasper spoke up. Everyone stared enquiringly at him, including Alice. "Well, normally if someone is feral they only feel basic emotions like fear," he tried to explain, "But she feels other things. Like she felt trust in Edward and then upstairs she felt betrayal. So, she must have some understanding and intelligence."

We were quiet again after his revelation. Would she be able to talk? I wondered. It was something to be considered; maybe we could try to test how much she knew and understood.

"Can you hear what she's thinking, Edward?" Jasper asked, his thoughts considering the possibility that I would be able to decipher her thoughts so we could know how to help her.

I focussed on the girl in the room, my sensitive hearing showing that she had made no movement since I had put her on the bed. To my astonishment and annoyance, I found that there was nothing; as if no thoughts or feelings were running through her head. I couldn't _hear_ her. "No, I can't get anything," I frowned, feeling strangely off balance as I tried again to listen.

My father broke the unsettled atmosphere by continuing his evaluation of the girl. "We also have the problem of her being underweight," Carlisle included onto the growing list of problems for my angel. _My?_ I shook my head. I definitely couldn't begin to think things like that, but it did really feel like she was mine somehow.

"Would she eat if we tried to give her something?" Esme asked aloud. We turned to stare at Alice as she gazed blankly around her. I watched as she searched the future, trying to see the outcome.

She let out a small sigh and shook her head. "I don't think she would," she answered, "She's exceedingly wary and won't trust us. It looks like we might have to wait for a while before attempting anything."

Carlisle shook his head stubbornly, his doctor mind analysing possible consequences of waiting. "We don't know how long she could hold out," he argued, "The longer we wait, the higher the chances are of there being irreparable damage."

"I don't see any harm coming to her if we wait, which is strange actually," Alice replied calmly. "However, if you were to try and force feed her…well, let's just say, we really don't need her any more traumatised than she is already."

The doctor in Carlisle wanted to do everything possible to help this child, but he could see the sense in her words, even if it went against his nature. "I'll have an IV ready in case we need it in an emergency," he bargained. Alice smiled and nodded.

"Great now that we've argued about that, can someone tell me why it's suddenly decided that she's going to be staying here?" Rosalie snapped bitingly.

"Where else would we send her?" Alice asked, glaring a hole straight into her head alongside the one I was drilling. _She's not getting rid of my new friend,_ she thought fiercely.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a hospital?" Rosalie hissed sarcastically. A snarl erupted involuntarily from my throat at her condescending thoughts.

Emmett shot me a warning look, but returned to watching his wife worriedly. "Rose," he said softly, "There's nothing wrong with her staying here."

"Nothing wrong? _Nothing wrong!_" She exploded in fury. "There is everything wrong with that _human_ staying here, or did you forget that she is human?" Her eyes were blazing by the time she finished her sentence, and I'm sure my black look was matching hers as we continued to stare the other down, both determined not to lose.

"Rose!" Esme chastised, scowling at her daughter's behaviour. She was already feeling motherly towards the unknown girl and was worried about what she had been through, wanting to help and comfort her. I smiled slightly at her, distracted briefly from my aggravating sister.

"You know it's true. You know the risks," she was becoming desperate, I could tell. She already knew that no matter what this angel was going to stay.

Rosalie finally fell silent as she looked around at us. Her shoulders slumped in a sign of her giving up and accepting that she was defeated, at least for now. I doubted this would be the last time we heard of her on this topic; she wasn't giving up.

Carlisle stood, clearing his throat to gain our attention. "I don't think it would be a healthy decision to hand her over to authorities," he shot us all a sad smile, "They would be more interested in studying her than helping her get better, I fear."

"And for all we know, she could end up back where she started if we don't help her," Alice added, a satisfied look on her face.

"Poor dear," Esme sighed, a forlorn look crossed with pain on her face. "Do you see if she will learn to trust us?" She asked Alice with a hopeful look.

Alice's face turned into a grimace. "No, I can't see that," she admitted reluctantly, "There are too many things that could happen and she's not in a good mental state. I don't even know if she understands us, but I feel she is important to us."

"We should concentrate on getting her better, we can worry about that stuff later," Carlisle sighed, rubbing his brow with his fingertips, "The abrasions on her wrists will need looking after, which means I need to tend them and that certainly won't make her like me." He looked up at me, asking silently, and I nodded; I would give her someone to trust.

"Maybe we should bring another blanket up to her," Esme considered aloud, compassionately thinking about how she might get cold, or she could at least have some comfort.

Alice nodded vigorously. "Edward can take it up tomorrow," she looked at me then. _She will still be scared around you, though, remember that, and don't be disheartened._ I looked at her curiously, wondering what she was talking about, but she shook her head.

I sighed, frustrated that she was keeping things from me again, especially things that were related to this girl. I felt surprisingly protective of her and I wanted to do anything I could to help her get batter. After seeing the state she was in, I couldn't help but worry about what happened in her past for her to be so traumatised.

"She needs to be cleaned as well, so we'll have to figure out a way to do that considering she won't let any of us touch her," Carlisle said, debating before coming to a quick conclusion. "It will probably have to be a blanket bath," he assumed.

Alice looked into the future again and I saw the image of the distraught angel as she lay on the bathroom floor, whimpering away from Alice's form beside her. "I can do it, but it won't be pretty," Alice sighed, "She'll get quite upset, but after that she should be fine. I don't understand why she behaves this way when we're only trying to help her."

Carlisle smile sympathetically. "Yes, but, Alice, you know that she won't see it that way," he tried to explain, "Obviously something happened that made her withdraw from human contact. Most likely the way she was treated before, but we may never know, the only person who could tell us that is her, and she's not currently in any state to tell us."

He shook his head sadly. _That poor child, I don't even want to think about what she may have gone through. _"Maybe in time she'll learn to trust us. Even then, though, you should be aware that she may not remember what happened, or may not want to, so don't be surprised if that turns out to be the case."

His words quietened us as we descended into our own thoughts to consider the implications of what he was telling us. This girl was in a delicate state, and we would need to treat her with care. Feeling my protectiveness again, I decided to check what the others were thinking.

_Oh, the poor dear. I wish there was something more we could do for her, but she most likely needs some time to settle first __so she can adjust. This must be a terribly confusing change from what's she's used to; she is bound to be distressed. _Esme's motherly nature had already accepted her as one of her children with no questions asked. She made a good point, but I knew there was more to it than that.

_Oh, Edward, she's going to be a part of our family, I just know it,_ Alice was thinking. _It's going to be perfect, you'll see._ I shook my head at her exuberance.

_I think__ she would be fun as a new sister, once she's better of course, but I know we will make sure she gets there._ Emmett was imagining her as a new play buddy and I wondered how the angel would react to her new 'brother'.

_It's so dangerous to keep her here__, anything could happen. One of us could slip or we could have a visitor, particularly the Volturi,_ Jasper was worrying about the issues and his own control. _But she does need help and we could probably help her if her instincts don't scare her away first. And Edward is attached to her as well…_

I left his thoughts as soon as he started to become inquisitive about my own motives with this girl. One set of thoughts stood out from the rest, simply because of their unexpectedness, and my mind automatically tuned in on them.

_Perhaps it won't be so bad having her here. She's not exactly in the best state__._ I saw an image of how the girl was when we first arrived home, me with her cradled tightly to my chest, protectively. _Everyone seems to like her, and she can't exactly reveal our secret. We will have to be careful about anyone discovering her, but we have Alice and Edward._ Rosalie was the person behind these thoughts.

I must have been wearing a slightly smug expression, for she suddenly rounded on me. _Don't get carried away, Edward. I can still change my mind. But for now I see no problem._ She backed her words with a sharp glare in my direction.

I gave her a short nod in acquisition; I was just happy that she wasn't going to fight us on this. Carefully, I listened in on the girl again and found that both her heart rate and breathing were more relaxed. It seemed Alice was right about leaving her alone, but I should have known not to bet against her.

"We will have to take things very carefully with her," Carlisle announced and we turned to face him. "We don't want her to be overwhelmed, so just go slowly and don't force too much on her at once." I didn't miss the look he sent to me and Alice, somehow knowing that we would be the closest to her.

I already knew this, of course. She was fragile, both emotionally and physically. I had seen how she shied away from contact, so I knew that I would have to take this slow, but I was determined to get her better. She would learn to trust me, I knew it.

Alice smiled at me, though I knew that she could not see much of the girl's future. I returned it with a short nod, and left for my piano. I allowed the soft notes of the instrument to flow over me and thought about how I would try to help my beautiful angel.

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**Author's Note: Well, I got another chapter out. I'm really sorry that this took so long, but I have a reason (sort of). Anyway, I'm really glad and surprised by how many people have been reading this so far. I wasn't expecting that much response and I think I got more reviews for that one chapter than any single chapter on my other stories. It means a lot to me to hear all of the things you say.**

**I can only hope that you continue to enjoy reading this and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint too much. Bella will be in the next chapter, but I wanted to give an idea of what was going on with the rest of the family. Hopefully, I could have another chapter up soon, but first, I want to see how many reviews I can get for this chapter.**

**So, shall we say 10 reviews for this chapter and then I'll update again? I'll make sure I have it ready for all of you guys.**

**Thanks so much for reading!!**

**R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E**

**animal8 xx**


	3. Alice's Hope

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 3 – Alice's Hope (EPOV)

The morning came with surprisingly little drama. It had taken a few hours of being alone last night for the girl's breathing and heart rate to even out, indicating that she had slipped into sleep, and now Alice was waiting eagerly for her to wake up.

My sister was ready with some comfortable clothes to dress the child in after giving her a wash. I had to laugh when she grimaced at them, thinking about how unfashionable they were and wishing that she could burn them and use something more stylish in replacement.

Carlisle had spent time during the night doing research on psychological trauma and possible ways we could use to ease her back into a normal life. Esme was already mothering over the girl, planning what she could do in terms of clothes, food and comfort.

Even my other siblings, namely Emmett, though, had been thinking about her. Rosalie was still unsure of having her staying with us, and Jasper didn't think it was safe enough. It seemed that Emmett was the only one, besides Alice and myself, who was actually quite happy to have her here. He had begun considering her as the little sister that he could protect, because Alice would never allow him to treat her that way. It was as if her vulnerable state brought out his brothering instinct. I smiled a little at the thought.

I was happy, but I couldn't explain, even to myself, why I would feel that way. I knew there was a part, a very large part, which was delighted with the presence of this strange angel. That same part was the one that made my heart constrict whenever I thought about the condition she was in.

_She should be waking up soon._ Alice's thoughts notified me quickly, and I looked into her mind to see that she was standing outside the door to my bedroom, where the angel was staying. I wondered why she would choose to wait there instead of inside the room. She answered my thought before I had the chance to voice it. _I saw that she would freak if I was in the room when she woke. She really doesn't like being near other people. I guess she just needs some time to acclimate to where she is before having to deal with my presence._

Her thinking made sense, but I was sad. This girl shouldn't have to be afraid, though she had every reason to be as she was living in a house with vampires, but she didn't know that. I sighed, and lay back against the pillow, my legs stretching the length of the bed. I had moved myself into the guest room while mine was being occupied.

Alice appeared at the door to my new bedroom wearing a sad look as she stared at me. I raised one eyebrow in question when she didn't speak immediately. "You have to stay in here when I clean her," she stated. I continued staring, still not understanding. "I saw that she is going to be terrified, but it will only make it worse if you come in there as well."

I winced, but nodded. Accepting my response, she left again. I followed Alice's mind as she returned to the girl's room, I wasn't going to pry on her, but I wanted to see her again. I had to admit, I was more curious about this strange girl than I cared to acknowledge. But then, who wouldn't be when they find a small child in the middle of the forest in the state she was in? At least, that's what I was convincing myself of.

I heard no sounds of the angel stirring, but the tell tale speeding of her heart and breathing let me know. Well that and Alice finally made her presence known in her room. A rough growl sounded and I saw through Alice that the child had backed herself to the edge of the bed, and was curled tightly into a ball, snarling softly.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Alice murmured quietly as she approached the frightened human slowly. She sat down on the other side of the bed, causing another sharp growl to be emitted from the girl's mouth. "It's okay," she soothed. Carefully, she stretched one hand out and touched her lightly on the leg closest to her.

The girl flinched so bad she nearly threw herself onto the floor. Alice pulled back, discouraged. "I wish I knew your name," she sighed, "Or at least if you could understand me. It might make things easier."

Still, the small girl didn't remove her untrusting gaze from my sister and I caught the fear that was hidden, masked behind the glare she was trying unsuccessfully to send. Alice steeled herself and reached out again, this time contacting her shoulder. She refused to draw back even when the girl jerked from her touch and began whimpering almost silently.

Alice shifted closer to her and a light tremor ran down her spine. Before I could warn her, my sister had a hand clasped around her arm, just above the bandages marking where her injury lay. The angel thrashed violently at the contact and Alice released her out of shock.

"Don't touch her arms if possible," I advised Alice, dismayed when I saw that the girl was now trembling even more frantically than before and her eyes looked wild as they flashed around the room. She looked so scared that I felt my heart react to her pain, clenching tightly.

I was aware of Alice nodding as she tried a different approach. She slid off the bed and moved to the side the girl lay on and scooped her up into her arms as she was trying to turn over. The girl wriggled and squirmed as she had done to me, but Alice was able to restrain her easily with her superior strength.

I left her mind once she entered the bathroom, not wanting to intrude, but I kept listening with my own ears. The door to the bathroom clicked shut softly, dampening the light murmurs as Alice continued to soothe the poor child. I sighed and wished momentarily that I was able to see her and see for myself how she was coping, though I could easily guess. All I had left to do now was to wait. Alice would let me know when I was needed again.

(APOV)

It was strange for me, seeing this girl curled up, so afraid of me, on the bed. I wanted to help her, I already felt as though she could be another sister to me, but the future wasn't clear on what would happen to her.

I didn't exactly know how to approach her, but I quickly learnt not to grab for her arms. Edward told me quietly that she didn't like that and I made a note to be more careful in the future.

Eventually, I had taken her into my arms and carried her into the bathroom. She struggled against me and it was a pitiful sight to witness; she was so weak and so afraid. I wondered what had happened to her. Never before had I seen anything like what this girl was displaying and it made me unsure. I didn't like that.

I paused once I was in the room with the door closed. I realised that I couldn't put her in the tub as it would make my job more difficult, so I placed her gently on the floor. The instant I withdrew my hands, she was curled into her protective ball again, trembling against the tiles.

Shaking my head miserably, I quickly darted around the room, gathering the things that I would need. I took a wash cloth and towels as well as various body products. This would need to be quick in order to reduce the amount of stress because it was obviously traumatic for her to have contact with anyone else.

Once I had placed these things within reach, I knelt down beside her shivering frame. She cringed away from my presence and tried to back into the nearest corner without success. Reluctantly, I tugged her legs away from her chest and began removing the clothes that she was wearing.

She tried to fight me with every movement, but was too weak to even crawl away, though that would have made no difference with my strength and speed. I was trying to be gentle with her, but it was hard, knowing that everything I did caused her distress.

I managed to pull her top over her head after some coaxing and soothing. The girl tucked herself around her torso, pressing her face into her knees so she wasn't even looking at me. I frowned at the state she was in beneath the clothes.

The bandages on her wrists were stark against the filth coating her skin, but even under that I could still clearly see the bruises and the way her ribs protruded more than normal and the dark marks under her eyes when she lifted her head a fraction.

"You're going to be okay," I assured her softly, "We're going to make you better." As I said this, she raised her head and met my gaze. It looked as though she had understood what I had said and I felt hope for the first time since seeing the state she was in. I reached out and stroked her hair back comfortingly, ignoring it when she flinched visibly.

With one hand I grabbed the cloth, dampening it before setting to work. I scrubbed away carefully with steady movements, removing more of the dirt each time. The girl had resumed her struggling in the instant I had started and I was disappointed to lose what contact I had managed to make with her, but it was necessary.

As I moved over her body, she began to still, but I was aware of the salty smell of her tears as they stained her cheeks. Tremors racked her body and she seemed powerless to prevent her reactions.

Finally, when I had cleaned the last part of her, I stepped away, allowing her a small reprieve. Now that she was clean I could clearly see the marks that marred her fair skin and I was horrified at how she had been treated.

I took the towel, a large fluffy one so she would be more comfortable, and wrapped it around her. She was quiet as I dried her, and she remained tense, barely flinching, though she still cringed into the tiled floor.

Now the hardest part came. I had brought some clean clothes in here before I set to work and I picked these up. With some effort, I was able to manipulate her into them and started towelling her hair.

When I picked her up again she jerked and whimpered, but didn't put up anything like the fight she had earlier. I guessed her energy had been spent for now. I laid her on the same spot of the bed she had been when she woke and stepped back, watching her.

She looked more comfortable now. She had resumed her tucked position and was hugging her knees to her chest tightly as though someone would try to hurt her otherwise. I wanted to help her so bad and I know the others did as well, at least Edward, Carlisle and Esme definitely. Emmett was sympathetic to her and I was pretty sure he wanted to help. Jasper was unsure, but he would do it for me and I had a feeling he would accept her as well.

Rosalie was a mystery, though. I knew she hated her at the minute and wanted her gone, but I couldn't tell if or when those feelings would change. My hopes were that we would help this strange girl recover from her ordeal and that she would eventually find a place to belong within our family.

I walked to the door and cast a last glance back at her vulnerable form. She had lifted her head and was watching me closely, though still highly suspicious and fearful of me. I wondered again if she understood me, and the felt somewhat certain as I remembered when I talked to her in the bathroom. It was like we had connected.

I felt hopeful now that, even without a vision, she would be able to recover. It would just take time and patience to get her there and lot of carefulness to not knock her off the path. She was so vulnerable and almost anything could set her rehabilitation back. We definitely needed to be aware of what we did around her.

* * *

Author's Note:

So, I'm please to say that I got eleven reviews for the last chapter! Not as high as the fifteen I got for the first, but definitely reassuring that there are some people out there still interested in seeing this story written. I have had a request for longer chapters and I will promise to try, but I can't guarantee anything. Sometimes there are just places where you have to end a chapter.

So, speaking about the reviews I have recieved, I am surprised and very excited to see people making suggestions for this story. I do have a basic plan for where I want things to go, but you should definitely feel free to give me ideas. You never know, it might be really helpful, to inspiring to me. (*Hint, hint*)

Anyway, really pleased at the response and I'm hoping for similar this time around. I want to see if we can go for 15 reviews for chapter 3.

This time around though, I have a reward for any who review. I have written a special extra from Bella's POV, just so you can get an idea of what's going through her mind. If doing this works well, I may consider doing more such extras, maybe from other character's POVs. Let me know how you feel about that.

Now that you have a target, let's try and reach it! The sooner you get reviewing, the sooner we can all see chapter 4 released ;D.

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx

P.S. Today is also my 18th Birthday (28th May), so yay for me. I got an awesome ipod touch that I really need to get some songs put onto and some really cool swarovski glass scultures, one of a cat and one of bambi with a butterfly on his tail ;D. And £50 Amazon voucher! Let me tell you, that won't last long ;D.

Also, today was the day of my year 13 leavers assembly, so I was a little sad about that :{ It made me want to cry. Just in case any of you actually cared about that ;D. Let me know what you think and I hope those of you who review enjoy the little extra, even though its not much.


	4. A Start

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 4 – A Start (EPOV)

I listened as Alice left the girl and heard her thoughts. She believed there was a chance that the girl could understand us, even if she didn't respond in any way or even seem to trust us. Again, I tried to imagine what had happened to her and why someone would do this. But I was hopeful that if she could understand us, it would help us to help her.

I was glad that my family and I had found her. I knew that we could look after her properly and be the ones to get her better. I couldn't wait to see my angel again as I impatiently paced inside my room.

Alice found me like this when she entered and rolled her eyes at me. _She's fine, Edward,_ she thought, _I don't see there being much of a problem, but leave her alone for a couple of hours._ "She needs some time alone to adjust," Alice contemplated, "I think if we go steady and not overwhelm her with too much at any one time, she should get used to being around us and then we can work on other things."

It seemed like a reasonable place to start, but I would have to see what Carlisle said about it; he knew more about these things despite my being able to read his mind. I didn't want to rush things and risk threatening her recovery.

"Okay, we'll discuss it later, alright Alice?" I asked, looking at her questioningly. She nodded and followed me as I felt and went downstairs, though not without pausing to listen to the heartbeat of the small human first. I was aware that Alice hid a smirk at that action, but ignored her for now.

We found the rest of the family waiting in the lounge. They looked up as we entered and I heard most of their thoughts wondering about the girl. I went straight to my piano and sat at the bench while Alice explained.

"Well, she definitely does not like any physical contact," she stated the obvious, but I refrained from making a biting remark, "Her whole body has bruises of varying sizes, though I don't know the severity of it." She turned to Carlisle with a worried look as she said this.

I grimaced at the thought of there being more damage we were unaware of, as we didn't remove any of her clothes in order to not stress her any further. Even then, we had found her wrists and feet. How bad was she? I wondered.

Carlisle was concerned, but I was relieved to see that he didn't think she had any serious internal injuries. He hadn't smelt any bleeding that would indicate as such, and I breathed a sigh that there wasn't any serious damage.

"What I'm worried about, besides trying to get her weight up, is when it comes to checking her bandages," Carlisle frowned, "I don't want her reacting that way every time, it's not healthy for her, but I don't see what can be done to avoid it."

Alice was quiet for a moment, watching me. "I'm sure something will come up," she suggested cryptically.

I frowned at her, not sure if I liked the way she hinted at something between me and the angel. At the same time, though, my insides fluttered at the thought of getting to be close to her, trusted by her. I pushed that feeling away quickly, not understanding the reason behind it.

Everyone else was confused, but didn't bother to ask, already knowing Alice had her own convoluted way of seeing things thanks to her ability. "So, what do we do with her?" Emmett asked, "How do we help her?"

Carlisle sighed. "That's a difficult thing to know because we have no idea how she'll react to everything. Some things we know, like the physical contact," he nodded to me and Alice. "But, first off, I think we shouldn't crowd her. Just let her get used to a few people at a time," he suggested, "After that, we can see how things go. We'll just have to take things one step at a time, go very slowly. Eventually, we should be able to work her up to getting around outside and back into a normal life."

His mind showed his uncertainty. He believed we could help her, but didn't know how to go about it, so he was lost in this and was playing it each moment at a time to dictate the next move.

"She seemed to trust Edward," Jasper noted. He remembered in the cabin that she had allowed me to carry her despite constantly flinching away from my touch.

Alice nodded in agreement. "Carlisle as well will need to see her, to keep a check on her physical recovery," Alice said.

"What about the rest of us?" Emmett pouted. I rolled my eyes at his behaviour, but part of me was glad that he really wanted to get involved in helping this girl. "What if we want to help?"

"Don't worry, Emmett," Alice assured, trying to pat his shoulder, "You'll get your chance. Who do you think is going to teach her about all the fun video games? You'll just need to be patient with her."

Emmett was surprisingly uplifted at the thought of playing games with his new 'sister', as he thought of her. I smiled slightly, hoping that she would fit in with my family.

"But now, we get to go shopping," Alice squealed, bouncing around while Jasper attempted to control her with little success. I felt sorry for whoever was dragged with her, and sorry for the small human she was planning on showering with clothes.

"Alice," I placated, "I really don't think she will need all of those clothes."

She huffed at me and glared darkly. "She may not need them now, but trust me, she will need them," she asserted. No one argued with her after that, which was just what she wanted.

"Do you think we should start keeping more human food in the house?" Esme asked with a worried, motherly frown on her forehead. I wasn't surprised that she was already accepting her as another daughter; that was just they way she was. And she was a wonderful mother.

Alice lost her exuberance and looked down sadly. "We could have some," she hesitated, "But to be honest, I'm not sure when we'll get her to eat. And once we do, it will probably be a while before she's on solids. She's very weak."

I felt myself frown at that. Yes, she had a lot of fight in her still, but her struggles were a lot weaker than a healthy human's. And if she wasn't being touched, she made no effort to move apart from curling herself smaller. I don't think she even had the strength to stand. It brought back the harsh reality of her dire condition to me and fuelled my desire to see her well again.

"I still can't see how things will turn out," Alice confessed, "She could go downhill very quickly for all I know and I probably wouldn't see it until it was too late."

Too late, my mind echoed with dread. I didn't want that possibility to ever become a reality. I wasn't sure what was happening, but this girl was affecting me. She was vulnerable and afraid and all I wanted was to protect her, to be near her.

I shook my head from those thoughts, refusing to get carried away. Jasper glanced curiously at me for a moment before turning away. I would have to be more careful with my emotions around him if I didn't want to make him suspicious.

Esme had left the room without me noticing and she returned now with a thick, fleecy blanket in a pale blue colour folded neatly over her arm. She came over to me and I looked up at her, taking the blanket as she offered it to me. "For the girl," she explained.

Understanding, I nodded and placed it next to me so I could bring it up to her when I went to see her. Now that the conversation had lagged to an end, I turned to my piano and lightly fingered the keys, debating what to play. I could hear my mother's hopeful thoughts and smiled as I immediately knew what I was going to play.

My fingers pressed the keys, settling into the familiar pattern as I brought the song to life. Behind me, my family were excited to hear me playing after so long of neglecting the instrument and I chastised myself. I really needed to play more often, I reminded myself.

_Oh, Edward,_ Esme sighed as she listened to the song I wrote for her, _it's beautiful._ I smiled at her thought, pleased that she appreciated my playing. I liked that I could stir such strong emotions in people just by my music; it made me feel like I could at least do something well, something that was good.

_Thank you, my son,_ Carlisle thought to me as he held his wife gently, pride and gratefulness radiating in his mind as he spoke. The song came to a close and the last chord hung poignantly in the air as my fingers finally stilled.

I turned around, suddenly self conscious to find, not only my parents, but all of my siblings gathered together as they appraised my work. But, despite that, I was glad. This was one of those times I felt as though I belonged with them. Except now, there was another reason for me to stay.

I was curious about this girl. I wanted to know more about her, everything, including what had happened to her. Most importantly, I wanted to be the one she trusted, even though I knew she shouldn't. These feelings disconcerted me because I couldn't explain them. I didn't even know her to be able to feel this, but there was something that drew me in.

For a start, I couldn't read her mind. I had no idea what she was thinking, so I couldn't understand why she behaved the way she did. She was a mystery.

_Edward, I know you can hear me. You can go and see her now,_ Alice's thoughts came to me. I was standing in an instant, remembering to grab the blanket at the last minute, and rushed up the stairs.

Her scent grew stronger as I approached her room and I slowed, inhaling cautiously to make sure I was in control. I was. So I reached my arm out and carefully opened the door to the bedroom, trying not to startle her with any sudden movements.

When I entered, I stood and quietly observed her from the doorway. She was curled up into her tight ball, her head buried in her knees and her long hair, still damp from being washed, was splayed across the pillow beneath her head.

I shut the door behind me, the soft click causing her to jerk slightly, though she didn't look up to see me. As I moved closer, she began trembling delicately, so slightly it was barely detectable, and a quiet growl rumbled in her chest. She still didn't lift her head, the only sign that she was aware of my presence being the increase in her shivering as I came closer.

"It's okay," I soothed quietly as I sat tentatively on the edge of the bed, "I'm not going to hurt you." Her growling quietened and then stopped altogether and I waited to see how she reacted.

She didn't do anything for a moment, but then, hesitantly, she lifted her head and I was met with those strangely deep brown eyes again. I stared at her, willing her to understand that I meant her no harm.

I stretched out my hand to touch her arm, above the elbow, and she flinched as I expected, but I didn't pull away. I moved my thumb to lightly stroke her skin through the thin top, amazed at how her warmth burnt through my fingers, spreading to the rest of my hand. When she whimpered almost silently, I stopped and watched her carefully. Her eyes were closed again and her face turned into the pillow, hiding her eyes from me.

Wanting to show her that I accepted her reluctance, I moved my hand back, exercising a careful, none touch distance between us. She relaxed imperceptibly, but her posture was still stiff and clearly displaying her discomfort.

Desperate to do something, I looked down and recalled the blanket I had brought up for her. I picked it up and unfolded it, running my palm over the soft material when I saw her glance up curiously. I repressed a smile that I had her attention and instead positioned myself so I could gently lay it over her.

She watched warily as I moved, tightening her muscles when the fabric covered her. I released the blanket, making sure no part of me came into contact with her. Once I was sure it would keep her comfortable, I sat back, resisting the urge to brush a finger to her smooth skin.

She looked down at the blanket then back up to me, a wondering expression on her face. I smiled softly at her and explained. "I don't want you to get cold."

For a moment, she just stared at me. I could see she was still wary and cautious, but there was curiosity in there as well. And then, so fast I couldn't be sure I had actually seen it, her lips twitched into a slight smile before disappearing in an instant.

It didn't matter that it was small and didn't last. It was a start.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, finally got another chapter up. I have a lot of things to talk about, so lets see where to start. Okay so I am not sure on how I am currently naming my chapters, so if any of you guys have any suggestions, they are more than welcome.

Also, this story might have quite a slow progression, at least in the beginning as Edward slowly gets Bella acquainted with his presence before they actually start to help her physically. So, let me know if you think I am going too slow because I always find it very difficult to measure myself and it's always good to have an outside opinion.

I really loved all of the reviews I got for the last chapter, even though I only got 13 instead of the 15 I asked for. (I am being kind with putting this chapter out) But, I would like to get 15 for this one, please. I hope you people reading this are enjoying it, I have noticed I am getting a lot more hits than people reviewing (I have over 1,400 hits, which is the highest for any of my Twilight stories) so its nice to know there are people out there reading my work ;D.

I have also finally sat my last exam on Monday 28th June, which was unfortunately Chemistry. So that means I have more free time to write, but because I want to be careful of my progression so I don't have to repost chapters later, I will be taking some time to get a few chapters ahead which will hopefully allow me to make things smoother.

And also, I have an original writing story that I want to work on and will be posted on **wattpad(dot)com **under the name Alexandra Hope. (penname animal8). It doesn't have a name yet, but I will post it later when I have the first chapter up if any of you are interested.

If this posting goes to plan, then today is Sunday 4th July and that means that I am going to see Eclipse today! Whoohoo! I can't believe how excited I am, especially seeing all the adverts on TV; it looks really cool! ;D. (Although I absolutely hate the Volvo advert. I don't like that they used Twilight to help sell their cars).

So, I think that's everything, apart from one last thing. I will be writing an extra for people who review this chapter BUT because I have no idea what to write, I decided to give you the chance to decide. I have put a poll up on my profile with some options and I will probably leave that up for about two weeks, maybe less, so that I can write it as quickly as possible and get it out to all you helpful reviewers! And I am open to whatever extras you suggest as well, so feel free to tell me what you want to hear ;D.

And that's everything. Thanks to everyone reading this and all of those anonymous reviewers that I can't reply to. Remember, I want 15 reviews for this chapter before I post anymore and don't forget to vote!

Thanks again!

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	5. Doctor's Duty

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 5 – Doctor's Duty (CPOV)

The image of the rope burns on the girl's wrists flickered into my mind. I shook my head. Edward was with her now. I knew he had been waiting to see her since he had left her in his room. He was getting rather attached to her, I had noticed. I just hoped nothing bad came of it for him; I didn't want to see him hurt.

I didn't know what had happened to the girl, but right now we all needed to concentrate on helping her get better, which was why I was taking a trip to the hospital now. It could have waited until the morning when I started my shift, but I wanted to be prepared in case anything happened.

This girl was in pretty serious condition. She was obviously very emotionally scarred to the extent where she was reduced to a basically feral state and on top of that her physical condition was very poor. It wasn't an unheard of occurrence, but it wasn't very common either. I didn't know what other injuries she had other than what we had already found but she was definitely malnourished.

If we couldn't get her to eat anything soon, as Alice thought we wouldn't, then we needed to have other methods to get nutrients to her. The IV was just a precaution and only a preventative measure; it could only delay the inevitable.

I didn't want to have to use a feeding tube. Alice was right in that we could potentially traumatise her further, which wouldn't be beneficial to anyone, but we would need to do that if she didn't eat or else she would go downhill. She was already underweight and malnourished, though I had no idea how badly, so I didn't want it to get any worse than it was already.

In my duty as a doctor, I had to do anything in my power to help her. It was against my nature to let her suffer if I thought there was something I could do to prevent it. But right now, she didn't trust us, so it was doubtful that we could get close to her unless Edward somehow managed to gain her trust. I hoped that he could.

Rosalie wasn't happy that we were paying so much attention to this human. She thought it was pointless. I shouldn't have been surprised knowing her lack of trust in people, especially humans, but I was disappointed in my oldest daughter all the same. She had resorted to sulking as much as possible in her room since we had made the agreement. The others generally didn't have a problem with her staying there. Jasper was wary, given how his past had instilled a strong respect for the Volturi's laws, but because Alice was absolutely ecstatic he was willing to go along with it to make her happy.

I pulled my Mercedes into my usual parking space, close to the entrance, when I arrived at the hospital and locked the car as I headed to the building. Gina, the receptionist, looked up when I entered. "Oh, Dr Cullen, I didn't think you were expected in until tomorrow," she said to me in surprise.

I smiled at her gently. "I'm not here to work," I told her, "I just need to speak to Robert for a moment, if he's free and it's not too much trouble."

"Of course," she said, still startled, "I'll page Dr Johnson immediately. I'm sure he won't mind your visit; we've not been terribly busy today so most of staff has been left without anything to do."

Gratefully, I thanked her and told her I would wait in my office and if she could send him up to me. Once she agreed, I walked quickly to my office, thinking about the girl again and cataloguing what else I would possibly need. I kept a stock of bandages and other such first aid supplies in the house, so we were fine with that.

_The only thing I need from the hospital, then, is the IV,_ I thought to myself. _Unless it becomes necessary for more intrusive treatment,_ I added grimly, but we didn't need that for now.

It didn't take long for my door to open again and I looked up to the familiar face of the friendly doctor. He smiled at me and sat down when I gestured him to the nearest chair. "Carlisle, I have to say it was a surprise to hear from you," he started cheerfully, "What is it I can do for you?"

I smiled back at him pleasantly. "Robert," I nodded to him in greeting. "Actually," I hesitated, trying to come up with a reason for what I was asking, "I was hoping I could get my hands on some saline bags and an IV stand."

He looked surprised at my request, which was a reasonable reaction considering it wasn't usual to ask for such things to take away from a hospital. Usually such things would only be used to treat patients within the hospital. "Of course you can have my permission to sign those things out, I trust that you know what you're doing," he finally replied. "But, and I don't mean to intrude, but may I ask why?"

I sighed. This was why it would have been easier to sign for the things myself, but despite my skill in my profession and the respect garnered by it, I was not the boss. It was politer and would raise fewer questions to gain his permission, but that meant I would have to have an excuse and I knew from experience that it was safer to stick closer to the truth.

"I have a –" I broke off, searching for a way to word it, "situation at home involving a new girl that we may be adopting that I am not at liberty to discuss all of the details about yet. The decision has not been finalised as of yet and we wanted to keep things on the low in case things change."

It was a reasonable explanation and hopefully he would accept that I didn't want it spread around that we may be adopting again. After all, we didn't know what would happen once this girl was better. She may have a family of her own looking for her. But if there was no one, I was more than willing to take her into the family, as I was sure most of the others would. Rosalie would just have to deal with the decision and hopefully she would come around eventually.

"Of course, I can understand that, Carlisle," Robert nodded with a kind smile. I knew that I could trust him not to gossip. Not that it mattered much. If it came out that we were adopting and the girl couldn't stay with us we could just say that the adoption fell through and we were all very disappointed and if she did stay with us, well, then the story would be true.

"Thank you very much, Robert," I said, relieved. I would have to remember to discuss the story with the rest of my family. If she did end up staying with us, we would need a cover story for how she came to us, some background to her.

He smiled at me as we both stood. "It's no problem, Carlisle," he assured me, chuckling. "What's one favour for all you do for this hospital?" He asked rhetorically.

I didn't reply, not wanting to draw more attention to myself as he led us to the stock room. "Two bags alright for you?" He asked, his head already in the cupboard as he pulled things out, "If you need more then you can always come back."

"Two will be fine," I answered politely as he straightened up and handed the precious bags to me. They were filled with saline which would help to hydrate the girl if she couldn't eat anything, but it wasn't much substitution for solid foods and proper nutrients. My hope was that it would give her a bit more strength that she might be able to eat. If not, I would have to rethink what we would do.

I carried the bags out to my car while he followed behind bringing the stand. I could have easily carried both, but as he had volunteered I saw no reason not to accept his help. "Thanks again, Robert," I said to him as I opened the driver's door.

"I told you, it's no problem, Carlisle," he repeated his previous sentiment. I gave him another smile before folding into my seat and pulling the door closed behind me.

My colleague stepped back as I started the engine and back out of the parking space. The drive home was short, filled with thoughts and plans on what to do with the girl to get her better and then what to do after she had recovered.

Alice was sitting on the stairs, watching the door, when I arrived home. She jumped up when I closed the door behind me and I smiled to her. "Hello, Alice," I greeted, "What can I do for you?"

She looked at me anxiously and I was suddenly worried if she had seen something happen. "What's the matter, Alice?" I asked, concerned, "Did you see something?"

"No," she said slowly, her eyes glazed as she checked something I didn't have a hope of seeing myself. "Carlisle," she started hesitantly. "I have a bad feeling about those," she nodded to the bags of saline in my hand, "I can't see anything, but..." She trailed off.

I frowned as I digested what she was saying. It was only saline, nothing in it that could cause a reaction, so what was the problem? "I don't understand," I voiced calmly, "What makes you have that feeling?"

She shook her head and sighed. "I don't know, I can't see anything," she responded, repeating her earlier words, "I can't understand it because I don't see anything specific with the girl, but I have a feeling and it's not good."

I knew that Alice's 'feelings' were quite often correct. It was an extended part of her gift, I had theorised, so that she had a natural instinct for the future other than just seeing visions. It was also usually wise to take into account what she tells you. "I don't know what to do, Alice," I admitted, "If we can get her to eat, then I won't need to use the IV drip, but if not...I don't think I'll have a choice if I want to help her."

Alice bowed her head and nodded slightly. "I know, Carlisle," she said understandingly, "If I see anything else, I'll let you know." She turned and ran up the stairs, probably heading to Jasper to comfort her from whatever was bothering her.

I went through to the kitchen and found my beautiful wife busily cleaning the work surfaces. I recognised her technique of keeping herself occupied when she was worried and immediately went to her, wrapping my arms around her. "I'm sure she'll be fine," I assured her, "It will just take time."

"I know," she sighed, pulling back from me. "I'm just worrying like I do about all of our kids." I smiled softly when she spoke of our 'children' and I knew that she including the girl into that as well. "Edward's with her now," she added quietly, "It's amazing the way he acts with her. Do you think maybe...?"

She didn't finish her sentence and she didn't need to. I knew what she was getting at and it was something that had occurred to me as well. "I don't know," I told her, not wanting her to get her hopes up just yet, "We'll just have to wait and see how things go."

"Yes, of course," she nodded understandingly, but I still heard the undercurrent of hope in her voice. She was always worried for our 'oldest' son.

"I'm going to go upstairs and see if I can find something that might be useful in one of my old books," I whispered in her ear as I let her go. She nodded and I turned and left the room.

I thought back to Alice. Her words had me unsettled. If there was a possibility that the IV could harm her, could I take that risk? But I knew that if I didn't and she didn't eat or drink anything she would inevitably weaken further, even to the point of death. It was a difficult choice to make, but in my heart I already knew that if it came to it then I would try, if only to give her a chance. The future wasn't definite.

If things went well, though, we would still have plenty of time before having to resort to that. Let's hope that Edward can work with her to get closer to her and then I'll see about trying to get her to eat something.

Decided on that, I walked to the improvised medical room to drop of the IV before moving to my office. I found my books on psychology to try and find something that may help me understand her behaviour. It was already clear, though, that she had been held captive by the binding marks on her wrists and that she had been abused as well. Her fear of being touched was indicative of abuse as well, which would make it more difficult for her to trust us.

We needed to show her that we weren't going to hurt her. Unfortunately, her opinion of me may have been soured from our first encounter because of her having to be restrained while I treated her wounds. In her mind, it was possible that she just saw me as someone who was inflicting pain rather than trying to help her as I was. If that was the case, she could reject my presence near her, so I would have to be extra cautious in gaining her trust.

Sighing, I opened one of the leather bound books and lost myself in the science of the mind.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey, so I got another chapter posted thankfully. Sorry this took so long, it was a lot longer than I was intending because unfortunately summer holidays are not a good time for me to be updating (I always get distracted by various other things, usually on the internet and it completely passes my mind that I promised an update. Procrastination is nobodies friend ;D).

Right, now I have a LOT of things to talk about today. First off, I want to offer an apology because I have obviously offended someone by asking for a set amount of reviews before I updated again. So sorry to the anonymous reviewer who said that and as a gesture of good will there will be no expected amount of reviews for this chapter. Sorry also to anyone else who I might have offended or upset.

Now that I have that cleared up, I really hope that you liked this chapter because I was a bit nervous about posting it. I wanted to try and give another POV of the situation and Carlisle is really the one with the medical experience so I thought he would be better to use to try and portray how bad Bella is right now. Let me know what you think.

Okay, next thing. I am still going to be giving out an extra for this chapter and I think since most people seem to like Bella POV, so it will be that. But, I have no idea what to write, so I want you to send me a scene so far from this story (not including chapter 1) that I can do from Bella's POV and I will write it and send it out. Just add it into a review or PM me will be fine.

Another thing, similar to above, I have decided I will write the WHOLE of Chapter 1 from Bella's POV and post it in a separate story. So, hopefully people will like that. Please let me know if you think it's a good idea. I thought it would be a good way to try and get people to understand Bella because she is fully aware of everything around her she just doesn't trust anyone. And I won't say anything more than that so you'll have to read it youself ;D.

I have also thought that with the extras, it's a bit unfair that I can't give it to anonymous reviewers, so I thought, what I will do is write a little bit that I can send out to everyone with an account and then write an extended version and post it in a separate story so that EVERYONE can read it. Let me know if you think this is a good idea. I will most likely add the chapters to the story I will create for the BPOV Chapter 1. Will that be okay?

And...probably last thing, I have set up a LiveJournal account that I will be posting things like extras for this story and behind the scenes things. So feel free to go on it, read what I write there and ask any questions. And, please be noted, that while you may ask what you like, if I think it will give away too much of the story, I reserve the right not to answer, but I may hint around it **Hint Hint** XD.

So, the address is: animal8(dot)livejournal(dot)com

Please visit and leave comments ;D.

Thanks so much for reading!

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx

P.S. I am finding this really difficult to write because I am watching a film called 'Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon' and it is TERRIFYING. I swear my Dad is trying to give me nightmares. Either that or discourage me from staying up. He always puts on scary films (which I hate) right before I go to bed. And then wonders why I have strange dreams ;P.

P.S.S. I finally got my exam results and I'm going to College in September, yay! XD. Very pleased about that and this is sort of celebrational for me, I was inspired to finish the chapter ;D.

See you next time! xx


	6. Making Progress

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 6 – Making Progress (EPOV)

I stayed perched on the edge of the bed, hoping for the girl to become more comfortable in my presence as I tried to think of something I could do. I knew I needed to be slow and not overwhelm her, but none of us had any thoughts on how to progress with her.

It was a good sign that she had reacted to me in a positive way, even for that brief moment, instead of shying away as she had been seen to do. All I needed to do was find some way to encourage that response. Hopefully that way I would be able to assuage her obvious fears.

The angel in front of me had relaxed enough that she was no longer watching me cautiously, though she still glanced at me occasionally. I stayed by her side, keeping an eye on her and trying to study her behaviour in an attempt to understand her.

I listened to Carlisle's mind as he rifled through his psychology books, searching for something that might help us with this strange girl. Esme was hovering anxiously downstairs, cleaning as she tried to distract herself. I knew she was worried about this girl, just like I was, and that she didn't like not being able to do something in some way to help her. It went against her instincts as a mother.

I came out of my thoughts and glanced down at the quiet girl. She had gone back to ignoring me for now, I saw with disappointment. Her arms were held protectively around her body and she had her knees tucked to her chest with her eyes closed. Was she tired? I wondered. That would make sense, because she was so weak she was bound to be easily tired out.

We would have to be aware of that as well. It was most likely why, even when she was extremely stressed, she only put up a minimal fight that quickly powered out. The few times she had fought against us were only in short bursts of energy, probably due to an added adrenaline rush to her system.

I filed those thoughts away for later debate and focused on the fragile angel in front of me. Curious to attempt something, but wary of how she would react, I cautiously lowered myself down to lie on the bed beside her with my body turned in her direction.

As soon as I moved her eyes snapped open and fixed on me. She growled and glared at me, her hands pulling the blanket tighter around her body. I was pleased that she seemed to take some comfort from the simple material and thought that Esme would be happy as well to have been able to do something useful.

Despite her warnings, I continued to move until I was completely lying down on my side, making sure to keep my movements slow so as to appear unthreatening.

She still didn't remove her gaze from me, watching suspiciously even as I remained unmoving and unthreatening. I wanted to get closer to her, to see if that helped me hear what she was thinking, but I resisted and waited, knowing better from Carlisle's warning than to crowd her.

Instead, I listened to heart, pulsing steadily and strongly, if a little fast, in her chest. That sound represented her life and I found myself marvelling at it, wondering how something that was so fragile, so easily breakable, could sustain such life and how that life itself was so vulnerable.

After ten minutes of waiting, she still had not relaxed and I was at the point of considering moving back to where she was comfortable having me when she suddenly sighed and her body mostly un-tensed itself.

I didn't dare make a move, barely even breathing, fearing that anything I did would startle her. So I stayed where I was and watched her as she slowly calmed, but she didn't close her eyes again, instead keeping them locked on me. Those brown eyes captivated me. They were strange, flecks of gold and an almost red colour mixing in with the soft, warm brown. It was mesmerising.

Her breathing and heart rate slowly evened, but her hands remained clasped in the blanket with a firm hold. It was clear that she wasn't going to trust me easily, but so far she was okay with my being here. At least she wasn't fighting, I thought. I could deal with that and I could be slow and careful with her.

"What's your name, Angel?" I asked her softly, not really expecting an answer but feeling that I should say something to break the silence.

She tilted her head but said nothing. I continued talking. "My name is Edward," I told her, part of me somehow knowing that she understood. "I found you in the forest along with my brothers," I added carefully.

No answered, although her eyes showed interest. I smiled at her as she blinked slowly, her eyes falling shut. At first she struggled to open them again, but I soothed her gently. "It's okay, Angel," I whispered, "You can go to sleep. I won't hurt you."

She gave me another wary glance, but conceded to her body's needs and rested lightly. Her eyes closed and I almost missed the contact. I could tell from her breathing that she wasn't in a deep sleep and guessed I would have to leave when she needed to sleep properly.

I stared at her, mentally tracing the features of this mysterious beauty. Her damp hair looked so soft and inviting, shining slightly in the little daylight that entered the room through the window. I wanted to touch her, to see if her hair, her skin, was as soft and smooth as it looked and unconsciously I found my hand reaching out to her.

My fingers touched her hair lightly, brushing it back from her face. She flinched away instantly, a hiss escaping her lips. Her brown eyes followed me tensely and her body was stiff as I gently stroked the strands between my fingertips. It seemed to flow as I moved it about and I smiled, transfixed. Absently, I began humming a soft tune, relishing the feel of her hair.

To my amazement, her eyes became entranced as she stared at me wide eyed. Her reaction both startled and pleased me. She seemed to like the music, I thought incredibly as my smiled broadened. I ran my hand over her hair again, still quietly humming to her as she remained in a daze. Vaguely, I registered that I was singing Clair de Lune by Debussy; one of my favourites.

As my nails grazed her forehead, she snapped out of her trance and swiftly jerked away with a slight growl. I let her move. My hand fell back to my side as she shuffled further away from where I lay, keeping her limbs close to her at all times. I was frozen as she moved; a reaction I felt to her feeling threatened. Her eyes were only half open as she dragged the comfort blanket over to her side and curled underneath it again, her body quivering.

I waited for her to relax, monitoring her physical reactions closely. It took longer this time for her to calm as much as possible with me here, and the subtle picking up of her respiratory rate warned me of her increasing distress.

Her eyes were open, but she wasn't looking at me, her face was turned into the pillow as she stared blankly. She was shaking all over again and I was becoming concerned, but I should have known better than to do what I did and I felt foolish later for not thinking before I acted.

Almost automatically, my hand reached out to check her, coming in contact with her shoulder as I tried to get her to look at me. Immediately, I realised my mistake as her heart rate picked up, sending a flurry of blood pulsing through her and her eyes flashed briefly with fear before she buried her head away from me.

She made a strangled noise as I stiffened and snatched my hand back. She thrashed once before she lay still, though her body trembled and shivered under the covers. I feared I had pushed her too far, but I didn't know what to do.

I berated myself for being so stupid. Why did I do that when I knew she was afraid? I had already taken my chances in touching her once, but I had forgotten her sensitivity and now may have cost myself a great deal of what trust I had managed to gain. I had to find a way to make this right and quickly. It was bad for her to be stressed in her condition.

"Shh, Angel," I hushed, unable to bear watching her suffer, "I'm sorry, you're okay, I'm so sorry." I didn't know how to calm her without being able to touch her so I just moved away, leaving a distance between us as I continued to whisper comfortingly.

Eventually, her tremors slowed, though they didn't dissipate entirely. She kept her head buried as her shoulders shook and I stared in anguish at her with pain and regret for my actions. I remembered Alice telling me about leaving her alone to adjust herself and I thought that might be a good idea right now so I quietly lifted myself off the bed and walked to the door.

I saw her still slightly when my weight was removed from beside her and I stared miserably at her as I turned and left, closing the door softly behind me.

Two hours later, Alice found me sulking in my room, staring despondently at the ceiling. "Edward," she sighed.

"I know, Alice," I grumbled bitterly, "I could have ruined everything with her today because I wasn't thinking about what I was doing." I didn't need her coming to berate me when I was already annoyed at myself for being so stupid.

She shook her head. "That wasn't what I was going to say," she denied. I gave her a look, knowing that was exactly what she had been thinking about. "Okay, maybe a bit," she acceded and I snorted at the understatement. She was just as annoyed at me as I was, she just didn't want to say it.

"What do you want, Alice?" I asked, whispering and wishing that she would just leave me alone so I could figure out what I was going to do.

"I wanted to tell you not to just give up on her," she told me, "Just give her time and she'll adjust. Talk to her, Edward, let her get to know you. Everything will be okay, you'll see."

I turned to her hopefully with her last statement, sitting up on my bed. "You've seen something?" I questioned, feeling my dark mood lifting.

She smiled apologetically. "It's getting clearer, but I haven't seen anything specific. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Alice," I sighed as I lay back down. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't see anything. This angel was scared and confused and didn't know whether to trust us or not and the uncertainty messed with her ability.

"I know. It's just frustrating not being able to see anything, you know?" She asked and I nodded because I did know. I hated not being able to use her visions to predict how this angel would behave and it was indeed frustrating, especially as I didn't have my own advantage of mind reading either. I never knew what to do around her and it made me feel uncomfortable and almost out of my depth.

"It will be okay," she reasserted, helping to comfort me as only she knew how. "You will gain her trust, Edward," she assured, "I know it. You just need to trust in yourself first." She left me alone after that, puzzling over what she said.

Sometimes I wondered if she saw more than she let on, but I couldn't be sure. Even without her visions, she still seemed to have a knack for predicting things. I trusted her though, so I believed that I would, one day, be trusted by my angel.

I wondered what I could do to help her settle down. I remembered when I sang to her and how she reacted. Maybe I could play her some music, I mused. If I could just get her used to being around at least me, then we had a better chance at helping her.

Carlisle's thoughts told me that he believed if she trusted me that she would be one step closer to recovery. I understood his reasoning, because if she trusted me then I would be able to support her and she could rely on me as she learned to trust the others of my family.

I wanted to be the one that she trusted, that she confided in. Confused by my own thoughts, I shook my head. It was irrational to be feeling like that when I had only known her for a couple of days and on top of that, she was human. I definitely shouldn't be obsessing over a human. If anything, she should be kept as far away from a monster like me as possible.

But she needed help, and so as long as she needed it, I was determined to be there for her. I would find some way to make progress with her. That I would not fail in, I told myself.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey again. So I managed to get another chapter up. I hope you all like it. I have to say I am really surprised and delighted by how much attention this story is getting. Definitely keep it up ;D. Okay, so again a few things to talk about. Firstly, why this chapter was so late. I have now started at my new college doing a foundation degree, so I have lots more work than I am used to having. That doesn't mean I am not going to write, I most certainly don't intend to do that. In fact, I have reverted to using a pen and paper wo I can write during the odd hours of the day when I don't have my laptop available to me ;D. It will mean, though, that my updates will probably be rather irregular. I really hope this doesn't bother anyone.

I will still continue to write outtakes for people reviewing and I am still working on the new outtakes story where I'll post Chapter 1 in Bella's POV. And I will still post extracts from future chapters on my livejournal which is: animal8(dot)livejournal(dot)com in case you forgot ;D. So hopefully that will be okay for you and you'll still have stuff to read and what not.

Also, thanks to my mysterious reviewer for her apology. I can really appreciate how frustrating it is for people to refuse to finish a story solely because of not getting enough hits, so I hold no grdge against you for that ;D. I've had similar frustrations because a lot of the story I have been reading have been deleted so when I go to find them I can't :{.

And contests ;D.

I have written a story for the 'Something Wicked This Way Comes Challenge' called _Faded Love_. I would love it if you could read it and tell me what you think of it, or vote for my story if you really like it ;D. Voting is between 24th and 29th October 2010. Link is:

www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2516278/

The community where the other stories are is at the bottom, just follow the link for it.

And what outtake do you want to read this time? Bella's POV again, maybe of this chapter? Or something different, from someone else's POV? Let me know as well. Might do a poll, so please check out my profile to see ;D. Thanks so much for reading my story and sticking with me through my terrible updating. The extract will be extended and posted on my outtake story when I start it for all you anonymous reviewers who I can't send it to ;D. Check out my livejournal for an extract of Chapter 7 - I should do that soon ;D. I have it started.

Thanks again!

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	7. Working Things Out

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 7 – Working Things Out (EPOV)

I left her alone until the next morning. She had taken a few hours, lying quietly on the bed, before she finally fell asleep, to the relief of everyone. Jasper was becoming anxious because he could feel all of her pain, fear and misery spread throughout the house. The only way he could avoid it was to leave, which he was doing today for some much needed hunting.

I was relieved that he was and I was sure he knew it despite my attempts not to reveal my feelings. He was my brother, but I knew he was the weakest one out of us and I didn't want to risk anything happening to this angel. All it would take was one slip and disaster would ensue.

Rosalie was also going with Jasper. She was still having a hard time accepting that the girl was staying here, even though she had already decided not to object. I tried not to be angry with her, knowing that it would take some getting used to for all of us, but it was hard, especially when I had to listen to her thoughts.

She was upset that we had to change our routines to try and keep this girl calm and settled and not upset her with anything. In my opinion, there wasn't really much to change but that was because I was the only one really willing to take the time to spend with this angel.

And Alice, of course, but then she had volunteered as well, already viewing this girl as her sister. My father was concerned for my angel, but he was naturally compassionate and he lived to help others, so he also wasn't troubled by taking on the care of this girl.

Overall, Rosalie was the only one who still had any real problem with it. Jasper was still wary, but he agreed that she needed help and it was what Alice wanted and he could never deny her anything she wanted.

I sighed. At least most of my family were okay with this arrangement, though only Alice seemed to really understand the strange bond I felt to the girl. None of us had talked about it, certainly not me, but I could hear from their minds that they saw the way I behaved, the interest I had taken. They all thought about how I had never taken such interest in a human before.

They were all wondering what was going on with me and I honestly couldn't answer them because I didn't have a clue myself. All I knew was that I felt a strong urge, a need, to protect her and help her in any way that I possibly could. She was vulnerable enough to be in need of protection, but I had no rational explanation for why I should want to take up that role so readily.

But there was no denying the strange draw I felt towards her. I wondered if she sensed something as well, but then dismissed that; she was afraid of everything and everyone, so I didn't see why she would be drawn to any one of my family when given that fear.

I waited agitatedly, hoping that I would soon be able to see this angel again, even though I was uncertain how she would respond after the upset of yesterday. My sensitive hearing told me that she was still asleep and the only sounds coming from her room were her calm breathing and the pulse of her heart.

_Edward, may I please speak with you?_ Carlisle's thoughts called to me from his study, but the rest of his thoughts were hidden, to my frustration.

"Of course," I answered politely as I made my way to his room. He was waiting behind his heavy desk when I entered the room and he turned to greet me with a casual smile, placing the book in his hands onto the desk.

He gestured for me to sit and I did so, watching him expectantly. "Hello, Edward," he started, "I've not had a chance to speak with you after your last visit with the girl."

I grimaced, but nodded. I had kept myself locked away, berating myself for my stupidity and thinking over Alice's suggestion, as well as trying to figure out other ways to interact with this girl without scaring her off.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he looked at me intently and I nodded for him to continue. "Well, I believe from what I've been told of some of her behaviour and reactions, that she does understand us, but to what extent I do not yet know. I know that Alice suggested talking to her and I think that would be a very good idea. From my experience, just the sound of someone's voice can be soothing, so even if she doesn't understand what you're telling her, it might help her relax around you which will make it easier to gain her trust."

I listened carefully to his words and to his mind as he pictured the scared patients he had had to calm in order to be able to help them. What he said made sense, but I was wondering about other sounds. "What about music?" I asked curiously.

"Music?" He questioned, leaning his head to the side. "Well, I suppose some soothing music, like classical might be helpful as well, but I would be wary of introducing it to her just yet. What made you ask?"

I thought about when I had hummed to the girl, she had acted as though she was in a trance. It seemed to calm her, enough that she didn't even flinch when I started touching her hair like she would normally do. But I decided not to tell my father that yet, it seemed too private to share at the moment, it was something between the two of us. At least I had a way of soothing her. "No reason," I shook my head.

"Alright," Carlisle accepted, "Let me know of any progress with her and I will need to do a more thorough check on her at some point, maybe in a few days. We will also need to see about getting her to eat something."

"Of course," I acknowledged, but inside I was nervous. The previous check up had not been thorough which was why Carlisle insisted on doing another, but even that had caused this girl a large amount of distress. I dreaded to think about how she would respond to having to endure a full examination.

I left his room and forced myself back downstairs so I wouldn't be tempted to pace outside the room where the girl slept. The rain was pouring outside now, battering heavily against the window panes as it was driven by the wind.

Emmett looked up from the television screen when I came into the room. "Hey, man," he greeted, "Thought you'd be up with that girl."

I shook my head slightly. "She's asleep," I told him. _Didn't think it would stop you,_ he thought. I glared at him. "I don't want to disturb her," I explained. I looked around the room, suddenly noticing how empty it felt. Esme was bustling around the kitchen, cleaning and Carlisle was still upstairs. "Hey, where's Alice?" I asked, frowning.

He looked at me peculiarly. "Dude, she went shopping about an hour ago. Something about needing clothes for the human? Didn't you hear her go out?" He asked, facing back to his Xbox game.

I hadn't, most likely too caught up in my thoughts about the girl. My frown deepened when I thought about her shopping. I told her to leave it for awhile, but I guess it made sense to just be prepared. We didn't exactly know when she was going to be capable of getting around normally.

"What was that all about last night?" Emmett asked suddenly, drawing me abruptly from my thoughts. I saw him remembering hearing the angel's distress as I tried to soothe her and I winced at the memory.

I sighed despondently. "I made a mistake," I admitted, "I moved too far past her comfort zone and she reacted. Thankfully, not as badly as when Carlisle had to examine her when she first arrived."

He nodded, still paying attention to the game he was playing before pausing and looking at me, strangely seriously. "Edward, man, I know you're probably beating yourself up about this, but there's no need," he said severely, "She's more relaxed with you than anyone else, but while you make progress there is bound to be moments where she isn't comfortable and you need to be able to help her, not freak out about it."

It wasn't often that Emmett came out with something as serious as this, but when he put his mind to it he could produce some brilliant advice. So I knew to take his words to heart as best as I could. "Thank you, Emmett," I said, clapping him briefly on the shoulder.

"No problem, man," he answered, already back into his game and facing away from me. The wind picked up at that moment, sending another flurry of icy rain colliding roughly with the side of the house.

Upstairs, I heard the distinct sound of the girl whimpering and I froze, my head snapping in her direction even from where I was. Emmett had also looked up and turned to grin at me, saying, "Go ahead, what are you waiting for?"

I nodded to him for a last time before dashing up to my old room. I waited outside, listening to the sounds from within and only then did I quietly enter and close the door after me.

On the bed lay the angel, but the first thing I noticed was that she was still asleep. I hadn't so far seen her asleep yet, not properly, and I couldn't help but notice just how peaceful she seemed when she wasn't completely afraid or mistrusting. She looked so young as well, her face smooth of any signs of stress that plagued her in her waken life and her soft lips slightly parted.

The second thing I noticed was that, while she was deeply asleep, she also appeared to be very restless. Curious, I stayed standing where I was, just watching her. Every so often the wind would blow the rain harder and each time she would twitch or toss in her sleep.

She still maintained her protective pose, her body curled tightly together as if she feared attack while she slept, and every movement she made seemed to orient around her defence. The thought made me sad as I stared at her fragile form. She shouldn't have to fear anything.

I knew I secretly wished that she wasn't afraid of me, but I tried to push that away from the forefront of my mind. It was a selfish thought that I knew I shouldn't be entertaining. If I wanted her trust then I was going to have to earn it and I intended to do just that.

The girl tossed again, a pained noise escaping her mouth and I was beside the bed before I could blink. "It's okay," I whispered, as though she would somehow hear me in her sleep. She didn't respond as she continued to shift restlessly.

I had an idea then. Slowly, I sat down next to her, careful not to jostle the bed, and started humming to her as I had done yesterday, before I ruined the small contact I had made. My hand stretched out hesitantly to run my fingers across her hair, sweeping it away from her beautiful face.

Amazingly, she relaxed as I sang to her and surprised me by unconsciously turning ever so slightly into my touch. I couldn't stop the grin from spreading over my face, but I knew it couldn't last. At that point the girl stirred and began to open her eyes.

I pulled my hand away as she opened them to stare at me in surprise. Her body tensed and she growled sharply as she realised how close I was to her, but I remained still as we eyed each other. "You're okay, Angel," I said softly, stroking her hair again as she reflexively flinched from my touch.

She stared at me and her intelligent brown eyes showed her wariness, but I thought I caught a flash of hope in there as well. And that gave me hope.

* * *

Author's Note:

This chapter is dedicated to timidvampire for being the 100th reviewer.

Hey guys. I'm really sorry about how late this chapter is, but I got it up this weekend as I promised. It's been really hectic with college work and it will probably be again when I go back in February, but I will aim to have another chapter up for January to compensate.

As for the Bella outtakes, I think I may stop those for now as I am really struggling for inspiration in writing at the moment and I would prefer to just work on this story. However, the companion story 'Touches of Perspective' will still go ahead, I just don't know when I'll be able to post it. I hope when I do that you'll still want to read it ;D.

Also, 'Gentle Touches' is nominated for Best Bella in the Avant Garde Awards and has made it through to the second round. Voting for round two finishes 26th December and the website can be found here: twilightfb-awards . blogspot . com/p/nominees . html

Thank you to all those who have voted for Gentle Touches, or reviewed/Fav'd/Alerted etc. I appreciate everything you guys send me and I'm really glad that you are enjoying my story so much. I hope you won't be too displeased with me over my updating. I have sixteen weeks off for my summer holidays, starting in May, so hopefully I'll make up for it then.

Until next time!

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	8. First Contact

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 8 – First Contact (EPOV)

She shook a bit as I laid myself down beside her again in a comfortable position and I didn't move as she got used to me being there. I made sure there was some distance between us so she wouldn't feel threatened or crowded by me invading her personal space.

I really had no idea what I was doing and everything was just taking small steps at a time and seeing how she reacted, but I was beginning to understand her more. And that helped me to know what to do and how to get her comfortable with moving forward and extending her comfort zone. I already knew this would be a long process, but I was in it for the long haul and I was prepared to do whatever was necessary to help this angel.

I watched her closely as she watched me in return, and I waited for her trembling to ease as a sign of her relaxing. It didn't take as long as it had the day before, which was some progress, but it still took quite a while.

During this time, I made sure to remain still and silent, letting her adjust to my unexpected presence. I made a mental note to not be right by her side when she first awoke, at least not until she wasn't as fearful of being near me.

When she was calm I moved my arm slightly closer to her. Her eyes immediately locked onto the small movement as she tensed her muscles. I had a sudden idea that I could gradually move closer and closer to her, each time waiting until she relaxed, but never actually touching her. Not yet. That way she could adjust to being close to me. Hopefully, that is.

I quickly ran through ideas of what to talk to her about so I could put into practice Carlisle and Alice's theory of soothing her with my voice. I knew that I obviously couldn't tell her anything that might hint towards me being different, not human, but that didn't mean I couldn't give her an edited version of my life. For some reason, I wanted her to know something about me, even if it wasn't entirely the truth.

"I was adopted," I finally spoke. She looked up at me again, curiosity in her gaze as she tilted her head minutely. "My parents died," I paused briefly, trying to remember their faces. "Carlisle and Esme took me in and treated me like their son. I don't deserve their love, but at the same time I've never been more grateful towards anyone." I stopped talking there. I had never told anyone that, though I'm sure Carlisle knew how I felt, and I had no idea why had I chosen to tell her that, of all things. Maybe because I wanted to show her that I trusted her with something personal. I didn't know, but I wanted her to know me.

The angel seemed interested as she stared at me, as if trying to read more in me behind my words. I took advantage of her distraction to creep my hand closer to her. She locked onto it and froze, growling softly. "It's okay, Angel. I'm not going to hurt you," I whispered.

She growled deeper and shuffled herself awkwardly away from me. I waited patiently until she stopped and when she did, she looked back at me with an odd look on her face, as if she was wondering why I hadn't done anything yet. I felt another painful clench in my heart as I wondered what she had expected me to do.

When I still didn't make another move towards her, she relaxed and ceased the low growl that was emanating from her throat. An unsure look crossed her face and she suddenly looked very vulnerable, more so than when I had found her in that poor state of a cabin, or when I had held her down for Carlisle to check her. And it was because of this that I reached out for her again, despite knowing the possible consequences.

My hand touched her cheek and she jumped at the contact but didn't move from me. I gently stroked my fingers down her skin, caressing and feeling her warmth burning into my frigid skin. She kept eye contact, suspiciously analysing me for my intentions. My face was open with the honesty and good intention of my actions as I allowed her to see, praying for it to show her that I didn't want to hurt her.

It looked like she believed this more than my soothing words, though she remained tense beneath my fingers. I let my hand drop and watched as some emotion that I couldn't decipher flickered in her deep, brown eyes. She was an enigma to me. I couldn't read her mind and her face was often hard for me to interpret and I was afraid I would get something wrong.

She looked torn for a moment before she cautiously moved towards me, only minimally, stopping when she was back where she was to begin with. I smiled in encouragement and reassurance, pleased that she seemed to be more relaxed around me.

Her small hand clutched tightly at the blanket she was still relying on for comfort and I had an abrupt, irrational sense of jealousy towards it. I shook my head, surprised at myself and a little disturbed for where that thought had sprung from.

"I wish I knew how to help you," I said sadly. A tiny furrow found its way onto her brow and I couldn't resist the urge to touch it lightly, tenderly. She looked surprised, but to my delight didn't flinch away.

Her frown deepened and she seemed sad, but it passed so quickly that I wondered if I had actually seen it. I sighed as I took my hand away; I just didn't understand her reactions. One minute she was cringing away from everything I did and then it looked like she was trying to figure me out as I was trying with her.

Only she was probably more successful than I was as I was beginning to doubt I'd ever be able to figure her out. I was probably being presumptuous because I hadn't really gotten to know her at all yet and maybe that was the key to deciphering her.

I came out of my musing and once again focused on the angel. I really needed to stop getting lost in my thoughts while I was with her, I thought. She didn't seem to mind, though, as she was still watching me closely and I had a flash of discomfort being under her scrutiny.

It was unnerving that she could make me feel that way, but sometimes her eyes were so intense, even when she wasn't glaring, that I felt the need to avoid her gaze. It was as if she could see so much more than the average human, reading everything about me through my eyes. I didn't think I would ever admit to that, though.

The girl yawned widely and her eyes drifted closed. She lay like that for a few minutes and just when I was considering moving away and leaving her in peace, she opened them again, blinking at me sleepily. I smiled and swept a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes out of the way. She didn't move as I did so until she yawned again.

Had she been sleeping enough? I wondered. She looked so tired; I could even see the dark circles under her eyes, though thankfully they were less pronounced than when I had found her.

I looked down, taking my eyes off of her, and stared at my hands which were playing with edge of the blanket covering the girl. Her eyes flicked down as well when she caught the movement and she tensed slightly. I froze, expecting to hear the sharp sound of her growls echo through the room, but she remained silent.

Quickly, I looked back into her eyes to see what she was thinking. She was watching my hands with a thoughtful expression, but when she saw me watching her she switched her gaze back onto me. "I wonder if you would like my brother, Emmett," I thought aloud, not realising I had spoken until I heard my voice.

She blinked, surprised at the change in direction, and angled her head at me, her eyes curious and probing. I chuckled as I interpreted that to mean she wanted to know what I meant. "He looks kind of scary, but really he's a big teddy bear," I said softly, smiling at the thought of how apt the description was, "He's a joker as well, always making cracks at one thing or another."

Her delicate arm moved so I could see it peeking out from under the cover. It was less than an inch from where my hand still rested and I wondered if she had noticed or not. Nonetheless, I moved my hand closer so my flesh just barely skimmed her hand. It felt as if I had been shocked, the electricity leaving behind a tingling sensation that I was not accustomed to.

The girl jumped, most likely at the unexpected touch, but I was curious – had she felt that too? I didn't know. "Did you feel that?" I asked, feeling slightly foolish for voicing my question. Her eyes widened in, what I assumed was, shock, but she didn't answer me.

Moving more deliberately, I carefully wrapped my hand around her small fingers. She sucked in a sharp breath as I held her hand, but my eyes were fixed on our entwined hands. I couldn't believe how good it felt to hold her hand like this and I wondered what it was like for her.

I gently brushed my thumb over the back of her heated hand, feeling the softness of her skin and the pulse of life beneath it. It was amazingly easy to ignore her blood, I thought. I hadn't given it a thought since I met her until now and I realised that she smelled like freesias or lavender, but without the usual appeal of human blood.

Her body convulsed suddenly and she whimpered, trying to tug her hand from mine. She twisted in her attempt to escape and I worried that she would hurt herself if she wasn't careful. "Shh," I tried to soothe her, letting go of her hand and bringing mine up to stroke her hair as I started humming. She shook as she let me comfort her, but at least she was no longer thrashing.

She locked onto my eyes and went into the same trance as before, her body slumping into the mattress as her eyes glazed. I noticed that the blanket had fallen from her and I reached over her, still singing quietly and keeping eye contact, to pull it around her again.

While she was entranced, I carefully took her thin wrist into my hand and traced the outskirt of the stark white bandage there, hiding the evidence of whatever abuse she had faced.

I didn't realised I had stopped humming until her fingers flexed, curling loosely into a fist. The movement made me look up and I blinked, startled. She was pleading with her eyes as she gave a tug on her hand and shook her head, repeating the actions twice before I understood.

She was telling me, in her own way, to let her go. I willingly obliged and she slowly took her hand back, returning it to her cocoon of protection and out of my reach. I was shocked and excited at the same time at her small attempt at communication, even if it was just to tell me to let go.

Her small smile of gratification didn't last long, but it was definitely there and I automatically smiled in response. I didn't try to touch her again at the moment, respecting her space for the moment.

I heard the front door open and close, announcing the arrival of my sister, Alice, and closely followed by her thoughts shouting at me. _Edward, I'm home,_ she screamed and I winced.

"I know you're home, Alice, you didn't have to shout," I muttered grumpily, unhappy that my time with the angel was being disturbed. The girl in question looked at me in confusion, her nose scrunched in an adorable way. "My sister," I said by way of explanation.

Alice giggled at my obvious frustration and I fought the urge to growl, not wanting to scare the girl. "What do you want, Alice?" I asked, scowling. _We need to talk,_ she thought. I sighed exasperatedly. Couldn't this wait till later? I thought. But I knew better than to cross Alice. "Fine," I mumbled.

When I went to apologise to the girl, she yawned again and I could see her small, pink tongue curling at the end in a way that made her look very cute and somehow, much younger. Her eyes were already shut when she finished and she was drifting off to slumber.

I smiled at her endearingly, before lightly brushing her hair back. She growled quietly, half asleep. "Shh, Angel, just go to sleep. You're okay," I quietened her. She settled again and I quietly left, shutting the door to block out the rest of the house.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, actually managed to get another chapter up when I said, wow, lol ;D. Okay, firstly, I wanted to warn people that this story is definitely going to have a slow progress. There is a lot detail I want to put in as Edward starts to gain Bella's trust and even when she gets better, it may be a while before she starts talking and interacting with the rest of the family. I'm sorry if this upsets you, but I've had the entire story planned out for a while now, so that's how it's going to happen.

Also, I mentioned in the last chapter that I don't have time to write the Bella outtakes for reviewers, however, I have decided as a substitute I will have a preview of the next chapter. When this story is finished, or when I start to have more time, I will post the companion story for this, Touches of Perspective, which will basically be this story from Bella's POV. There will be Bella POVs in this story as well, though that will most likely come later.

Also, I have joined a Round Robin Collaboration story where a bunch of authors get together and each write one chapter on a story, building on whatever the previous authors have written. It sounds like it's going to be great fun and they are still looking for more authors. If you are interested, the link is: www . fanfiction . net/u/2664928/

As of next week, I will be starting to get back into my usual busy routine, so there may be a lack of updates for a while, but I will try and get one up as soon as possible and no later than March. I may, however, post a few oneshots along the way, so keep an eye out for those ;D.

Until next time guys! And sorry for the long AN.

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	9. Inspiration

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 9 – Inspiration (EPOV)

I waited until I was down the stairs before I started talking, hoping not to disturb the rest the girl was in need of. "Okay, Alice, what do you want to talk about?" I asked, scowling slightly in her direction, where she stood holding the bags she had obviously brought back from the mall, "And why couldn't this wait until later?"

She rolled her eyes at me, sighing dramatically. "I wanted to ask you what I should do with the clothes," she said, raising one eyebrow at me in questioned, her lips pursed.

My brow furrowed as I tried to work out why she was asking me when usually she would just do her own thing. I came up with nothing, so I asked her. "Why are you asking me?"

"You're right," she chirped brightly, "I already know what I'm going to do with them; I just thought it would be polite to ask you." I closed my eyes, my finger pinching at the bridge of my nose. She continued as if she hadn't noticed. "So, I'm going to be moving all of your clothes into your new room and putting all of the girl's clothes into your old closet."

"What?" My eyes snapped open and I gaped at her. She stared at me. I was slightly annoyed at her for controlling this decision, but even I had to admit it was the most reasonable arrangement. "Fine," I sighed.

"I knew you would agree," Alice said smugly.

I glared at her. "It wasn't as if you gave me much of a choice," I grumbled back. My look softened, though, as I remembered that this was for the girl, my angel. I frowned as I realised that Alice might have left a sore impression on the girl during their last encounter and that made me unsure how she would respond if Alice went into her room.

Alice looked at me like she knew what I was thinking. "Don't worry, I'll wait until later when she's properly asleep," she assured me with a smile.

"Thank you," I answered genuinely.

"You're welcome," she replied, grinning broadly. Her eyes blanked out as she slipped into a vision, my mind being caught by the familiar sight of the angel. She was lying on the bed with me by her side, staring into my eyes as I stroked her hair. I noticed the dazed look in her eye and realised that I must be humming to her again.

The vision ended, leaving Alice with a confused yet curious look in her eyes as she looked at me. I shook my head, silently telling her that I didn't know what her vision was about, and she narrowed her eyes at me with a disapproving scowl on her face. She knew I was lying but she didn't press for more, probably knowing that I wouldn't answer her anyway.

She squealed suddenly, distracted from her previous game of glaring at me. "Jasper's going to be home soon," she yelled, excited. I rolled my eyes at her, but my lips twitched into a smile at her behaviour.

"Shut up, pixie," Emmett teased, leaning around the arm of the chair to watch Alice, who merely stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled lightly and turned back to the television.

The door opened then and Alice blurred past me as she leapt at her mate. "Jasper," she squealed, her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He smiled at her indulgently as he bent to peck her on the lips.

"I'm glad to see you too, darlin'," he said in his southern accent, supporting her with his arms around her body. "Hello, Edward," he looked up at me with a calming smile and I nodded back, returning the sentiment. _How is the girl?_ He thought.

I shrugged, not really having an exact answer for him. "She seems to be alright," I said, reflecting on my observations of her, "She's still scared, I think. But sometimes she's alright now with me touching her, and I think she can communicate if she wants."

He looked surprised by that. "How do you mean?" He frowned questioningly.

"I was holding her hand and she basically acted out by pulling her hand and shaking her head that she wanted me to let go of her," I informed him, remembering the incident. I smiled again at the thought of having some message from the girl.

"Interesting," Jasper murmured, "She is intelligent then, like we thought." He raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded, Alice backing me up in affirmation.

We stayed in silence and I listened to their thoughts curiously. _I wonder what else she is capable of. When she is up to it, we should definitely see if we can test her to find out,_ Jasper was thinking logically as always, but I frowned at him. She wasn't a test subject; she was a poor girl who needed our help.

_This is going to be so exciting! I just know she's going to get better and then I can have a new sister who'll let me dress her up! _Alice's thoughts were typical and I quickly skipped them, though I did wonder if the girl would be as willing as she seemed to think.

Emmett only had attention for the game he was currently playing so I ignored him as well. Carlisle, though, having caught our conversation, was thinking about ways to encourage her to communicate more and coming up with theories on how to do it.

"I wouldn't bother, Carlisle," Alice said, surprising both him and me. I turned to her in question. "She'll talk in her own time," she answered the unspoken question, finally letting go of Jasper and standing next to him.

Carlisle appeared at the top of the stairs and stared at my sister inquisitively. "Have you seen something, Alice?" He queried.

She shook her head, denying. "I haven't seen much," she hedged. I glared at her, having a feeling she was keeping something from me. "I haven't," she said more forcefully. Jasper sent a wave of calm, trying to diffuse my aggravation and sending me a sharp glance.

"Okay, Alice," Carlisle placated, smiling appealingly at her, "You don't need to get worked up."

"I'm not," she huffed, crossing her arms. Jasper responded by rubbing his hand soothingly on her shoulder and whispering comfortingly to her. She smiled up at him gratefully and then turned to me. "You can go back to her now," she said with a knowing smile.

Part of me, a small part, wanted to wipe the smirk off her face, but it was quickly drowned out by the much larger part that was more interested in getting back to the girl than getting revenge on my sister. I nodded shortly to everyone and raced up the stairs, barely remembering to slow down before entering the room.

I let out a sigh when I saw her, still laying where I had left her with her eyes closed and her breathing peaceful. I would have thought she was asleep if it wasn't for the fact that she still growled at me when I opened the door. "Hey," I said soothingly as I slowly walked closer.

Her eyes opened and she growled louder, curling herself defensively. I paused and observed her momentarily, as she lay there looking scared, and a flash of guilt crept up on me. I knew I shouldn't have pushed her boundary by holding her wrist, but she had been responding so encouragingly and I had selfishly wanted to try. Her expression showed her uncertainty and she was obviously wary of me. I frowned sorrowfully as my eyes flashed around my room, searching for something, anything, which might be useful.

They finally landed on my high tech stereo system and an idea formed. I wandered over to my shelf of CDs and picked one from its place: a compilation of Debussy's greatest pieces. I was running off of the hope that if she liked Claire De Lune and it soothed her then maybe the same might hold true for other songs of the like.

The first notes of Claire De Lune came through the speakers as I turned back to where the girl lay on the bed. She was watching me calmly and when I approached she showed no response other than her eyes following me as I went.

She only tensed slightly as I stretched out beside her, but remained quiet. "It's okay," I whispered. I lay there just listening to the notes of the piano filling the room with sound and my eyes travelled over the girl's slim body. With the blanket covering her I couldn't see the weight loss or the way her ribs protruded from her skin or the bruises that coated her, but I knew they were there. The blankets didn't change that.

Carlisle hadn't been able to look at her since she was brought into this room so we had no idea how she was healing or if she was at all. I hoped sincerely that she was and wondered if she felt any pain from her afflictions.

I focused on her face again and she blinked back at me. I stroked back a lock of hair from her face and she flinched almost imperceptibly. "You're alright, Angel," I repeated softly, my fingers running through her smooth hair. Her mouth opened slightly and the soft exhalation of her breath increased her scent in the air around us. I barely noticed it, only enough to admire her fragrance while the burn was nonexistent.

"I really like this type of music," I stated casually. "Any kind of classical music, or music from the fifties I like. Much better than the sixties or seventies," I scrunched my nose in disgust, "The eighties were bearable."

The familiar spark of interest ignited in her warm brown eyes as she focused intently on me. I smiled lightly as I moved my hand tentatively down, across her cheek, to brush the back of my hand along the length of her neck. She stiffened at first, but quickly relaxed as I began humming to the melody from the speakers.

I felt delighted. Finally, I had started to gain this girl's trust. Obviously, I knew I still had a long way to go yet; she hadn't spoken a word so far and while she trusted me to an extent, she clearly still didn't trust me fully. But it was good enough for now.

My fingers rested on her pulse point, feeling the blood pulsing under the thin membrane of pale, nearly translucent, skin. It looked almost like porcelain, I mused, so fragile and breakable and at the same time so beautiful.

She growled under her breath as I traced the carotid artery, the vibrations reverberated in my fingertips. "Shh," I hushed her gently. She didn't make any more noise and I returned my hand to her cheek, lightly caressing her soft face.

Her arm lay between us on the bed, but I made sure to stay away from it, not wanting to stress her further by having a repeat of last time. My mind was whirring with the contact and as I stared into her eyes, suddenly other notes were playing, these ones inside my head. The melody flowed, in some places not sounding quite right as my mind constantly made adjustments and improvements.

The song played over in my head, becoming more and more complex as I added to it. My fingers twitched and ached, the irresistible urge to play increasing. I blinked and focused back on her, her soft eyes watching me curiously.

I smiled, unable to escape the rejuvenating feeling of my inspiration. Somehow, I knew it was because of the beautiful angel lying in front of me, that she was the root to the sudden appearance of the new song.

I realised, abruptly, that it was getting late now; the sun had already set outside, casting the horizon into deep shades of pink and orange. The girl's eyes were heavy lidded as she struggled to keep them open. I traced one finger over the faint shadow beneath her eye and she flinched, with a slight whimper.

"It's okay," I murmured reassuringly. I started humming again as a new song came over the stereo. "Go to sleep," I told her as I swept her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

Moving slowly, I slipped off of the bed and walked to the sound system, intending to turn it off, when I heard a noise of protest from behind me. Startled, I turned to see the girl staring at me, eyes wide in surprise as if she couldn't believe what she had done. I stared back, wondering what was wrong. It took me a minute to figure it out and then I smiled. Instead of turning it off completely, I lowered the volume, hoping not to disturb her if she wanted to sleep.

Nodding to myself, I moved back to her. "I'll leave it on, Angel," I said softly, lightly touching her jaw with two of my fingers. Her mouth lifted at the corner in a small semblance of a smile.

"Sleep well," I whispered. I left her room quietly, heading downstairs to my piano.

* * *

Author's Note:

**Important AN!:**

Hey Guys, really sorry about the long wait, but at least I got it out before March ;D. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it wasn't too disappointing. I know not a lot is happening, but I promise I have a plan.

This would probably be better if I had more chapter stored up so you wouldn't have to wait so long between updates. I have considered the idea of putting this on hold until I have finished the story and then starting again with more regular updates. Please let me know what you think. I will put a poll on my page so you can vote, or if you prefer you can PM me or give me your view in a review ;D

Either way, I will still be sending out a preview of Chapter 10 to those who review and I will also be sending a different sneak peak to TheTwilightAwards . com so you may want to keep an eye out for that. I have a lot of work now to do for my course, but I will do my best to keep writing in the meantime. Hopefully summer will come quickly so I can start writing more frequently.

I wish you guys all the best and Happy Valentines Day! ;D.

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	10. Trust in Alice

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 10– Trust in Alice (EPOV)

Downstairs, I could hear Esme bustling around, cleaning and sorting various things that she thought needed her attention. I found Alice and Jasper curled up together in one of the loveseats in the main room. There was no sign of Emmett or Rosalie, but I knew that Carlisle had headed into the hospital for a late shift.

Alice smirked at me as I entered, translating the entire dictionary first into Latin and then Japanese in her head. I scowled at her, knowing that she was hiding something from me. She wouldn't tell me anything if I asked, though, so instead I asked, "Where are Emmett and Rose?"

Her smirk grew as she pointed out of the back glass wall. I caught Jasper's grimace and didn't need to ask as I found both of their thoughts and realised what they were doing. I shuddered, doing my best to remove the images from my mind. Alice snickered.

"Sorry I asked," I murmured wryly. Jasper chuckled at my discomfort. "Do you know when Carlisle will be back?" I asked Alice.

She nodded. "Of course; he'll be back late tomorrow," she told me, "He was going to try and get home for the morning, but there'll be a major car accident and he'll decide to stay and help out."

I smiled and nodded thoughtfully. It wasn't unusual for our father to stay long after his normal shift had finished if someone was in need of his help. Because of our extra abilities, he was better than any human surgeon could be, performing more precise or intricate procedures with ease. He liked that he could save people who wouldn't ordinarily live if left in the hands of humans; it gave him purpose.

"He's going to ask you to assist him in checking the girl," Alice warned me, "Though it will have to wait for the morning after, so you have some time with her before then."

I frowned, remembering the previous time when Carlisle had checked her. She had been terrified and she hadn't trusted any of us. But she trusted me now, or at least more so than she did then. Would that make a difference, make it easier? I wanted to be able to help her, even if it was just keeping her calm while Carlisle looked at her.

I nodded my thanks for the warning and wandered over to my piano. It had been a while since I had created something new and I was especially eager to see how this one would play out. If what I had thought of so far was any indication, it would be one of my better pieces and certainly a lot happier than my usual work.

Tentatively, I played the first few notes that came to my mind, listening to how they sounded. I shook my head and moved up an octave, repeating the pattern of keys. I smiled, satisfied, and continued to play the notes that followed, adding my other hand for accompaniment.

It went like this, slowly adding more notes, changing others that I didn't think quite fitted properly and shifting chunks of the melody to places better suited for them. I was so consumed by the soft, flowing rhythm of the song as it came to life under my fingers that I was startled from it when I tried to compose the closing bars.

For some reason, it didn't sound right and no matter what I tried, it refused to work. After the third time of playing it, I sighed and placed my hands in my lap, staring hard at the black and white keys in front of me.

"That was lovely, Edward," Esme voice sounded choked with pride and I turned to look at her. "What inspired it? It's been so long since I've heard you play something new. Does it have a name?" She asked curiously.

I hesitated in answering. "It's a lullaby," I finally said, "It doesn't really have a name yet." I purposefully avoided answering her first question. Alice sent me a knowing look, but I ignored her.

She placed a motherly hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "It was beautiful," she whispered, still tearful. I shuffled awkwardly, feeling almost embarrassed by her praise and attention.

"It was," Alice agreed, smiling brightly. Jasper nodded as well and I rolled my eyes at them.

I frowned disappointedly down at the instrument. "I can't find a way to finish it," I murmured, the frustration clear in my tone, "The end just doesn't work properly, it doesn't flow like the rest of it.

"Oh, Edward," Esme said comfortingly, wrapping her arms around my shoulders tightly, "I'm sure it will come to you. Sometimes you have to struggle for something good, but the result is always worth the effort."

My lips lifted into a smile as I thought about it. It would definitely be worth it in the end to have this song finished. I nodded and raised my fingers to start playing the song again. My eyes closed and I found myself imagining what it would be like to play this for the mysterious girl living in my room.

I could almost see the exact way her soft, brown eyes would light up as they had when she listened to me as I sang her into a trance. Her lips would part slightly as she stared in awe. I imagined the feel of her warm body sitting close to me and the sound of her heart beating strongly in her chest.

_Whoa,_ Jasper's thoughts broke through my concentration. _Where are all these emotions coming from, Edward?_ He asked, _so much love and happiness. What were you thinking about just then, while you were playing?_

I shook my head, denying what he was telling me. There was no way I could love this girl. Not in that way, at least. I cared about her and wanted to help her, but I didn't love her; I couldn't.

_Denial, Edward?_ Alice thought smugly. I shot her a look and shook my head again.

Esme was looking questioningly between us, a slight smile still on her face, but she didn't ask anything. I smiled at her as I turned back to the piano and began playing her song again, my fingers easily remembering the familiar melody.

"Play something fun, Edward," Alice whined childishly, showing her infamous pout to try and persuade me. I chuckled lightly, not looking up at her as I gracefully changed into a jazz song with a much more bouncy rhythm, grateful for the change in conversation. She squealed excitedly as she tugged on Jasper's hand.

He followed her, smiling amusedly as she encouraged him to dance along to the perky tune. I watched them happily, not needing to pay attention to my playing as my enhanced senses allowed me to continue uninterrupted.

Alice flitted around Jasper, looking every bit the tiny fairy dancer that she resembled. I chuckled a bit at the mental image. It was nice to see my siblings having fun as Esme and I watched from the sidelines. Rosalie and Emmett came back in and Emmett laughed at the sight of the pixie dancing with someone over a head taller than her.

_You seem in a good mood,_ he noted silently. I shrugged at him, not denying it. I was in a good mood, for once, and it was because of the beautiful angel upstairs. Despite my worrying for her condition, I was happy that she was here and that I could spend time with her. And right now, this was an excellent way to distract me from my obsessive worrying.

As the song came to a close and Jasper drew back to lean down and politely kiss Alice's hand, she blanked out in a vision. Immediately, I tried to read her mind and see what it was about, but then frowned as I realised she was blocking me again, singing pop tunes in her head.

I waited for her to come around and when she did she was grinning wildly, obviously pleased with whatever she saw. "Alice?" Jasper asked quietly, ducking his head to look her in the eyes, "What did you see?"

She waved her hand dismissively, not looking at me. "Oh, there's a massive summer sale going on at one of the malls in Seattle in a few weeks," she said flippantly, "There'll be loads of my favourite stylists there as well to show off their work."

I stared at her suspiciously, knowing she wasn't telling the truth. If it was a sale that she saw then she would have no reason to be blocking me. Jasper seemed to tell she was lying as well, with the help of his ability, but he didn't say anything, though he felt hurt that she wouldn't tell him what she saw. They told each other everything and it was very rare for her to keep something from him. He trusted her judgment, though, and knew she would tell him when she was ready.

But I wasn't happy with that. I wanted to know what she was hiding and now. Jasper, feeling my impatience, shot me a warning look. _She doesn't have to tell you anything she doesn't want to,_ he told me, staring at me darkly. I nodded reluctantly, sighing.

"I'm going to put those clothes away in the girl's bedroom now," she added brightly, ignoring the silent conflict between me and her mate, "She should be asleep until morning, so it will be safe." She looked at me as she said that last part and I smiled gratefully. The girl needed all the sleep she could get; she still had no strength.

Alice disappeared upstairs and we could hear her gathering bags from her room and transferring them to where the girl was staying. I shook my head at her exuberance and shared an amused look with Jasper. "She really cares for that girl," he said by explanation. And it was clear she did. I saw that a lot of the clothes she bought were comfortable, nothing too flashy. They were the kind of things I could imagine the girl would be happy to wear.

"Yeah," I said in agreement, smiling fondly in the direction she had disappeared in. I hoped that Alice wouldn't overwhelm the girl too much with her love, or rather obsession, with fashion and clothes. But I could already tell that she saw the girl as a new sister, no doubt partly a result from whatever visions she had been hiding from me.

Emmett was looking between us, curiously, his interest in the strange girl showing through. Rosalie, however, was pointedly ignoring any conversation involving the girl she hadn't wanted to stay. She was still sour that her opinion had been disregarded and she was allowed to stay anyway. I didn't care how she felt, though, because nothing would stop me insuring that the angel could live here.

I started playing her lullaby again, concentrating on places where it didn't work as well and trying to figure something out that would work better. "Something new, Edward?" Emmett asked with interest.

I glanced up at him and nodded. "Just...something I'm working on," I mumbled, frowning intensely as I repeated the last bars I had managed to play. After another few attempts, I sighed and gave up again.

_Stuck, bro?_ Emmett raised an eyebrow in question, noting the times I had replayed the same part. I grimaced at him. _Shame, that sucks,_ he said sympathetically. He had no idea. I really wanted to get this finished, but my experience in composing told me that I shouldn't force it. It would come to me on its own accord.

Alice came back down, smiling and looking self satisfied. She waltzed over to me and sat on the edge of my piano seat. "I've put all of the clothes away, there's much less than I usually buy so hopefully she won't get lost in the closet," she rolled her eyes dramatically and smirked, "I turned the music off as well, she was fast asleep. You know, she looks really cute when she's sleeping, especially all curled up under the blankets like that."

I had to agree with her when I saw the image in her mind. The girl looked so innocent and vulnerable, just like a sleeping angel. Only her hair and face were visible from under the cover, the rest of her body tucked tightly together. She was also peaceful, which was a sharp contrast to her wary alertness while awake. I hoped to see her like that while awake, and soon. I could feel my gaze soften as I looked at her image, but then it was marred by a concerned frown.

_Stop worrying, Edward, everything will be fine,_ Alice's voice echoed in my head. She gave me a small smile of assurance and winked. _Trust me…_

* * *

Author's Note:

**SEMI IMPORTANT AN!:**

Okay guys, I can't begin to tell you just how sorry I am for not updating sooner. I honestly wanted to, but these past few weeks have just been so hectic trying to get all of my university assignments in on time; it's been a lot harder than I had anticipated and I seriously considered quitting a few weeks ago. But with University fees as they are now, over here in England, I figured I wasn't likely to get another chance at going 'cause there's no way I could afford the new prices.

Anyway, not that that matters now. I have finally got an update done, so feel free to let me know what you think ;D. I will be sending a preview for the next chapter to those who review. I will probably not get another update done until I finish Uni, but fortunately that's only like in the first week of May and then I'm done ;D.

I have also got some new (well old really) fanfictions which I hope to continue writing in the summer when I have more time. So feel free to keep an eye on me for them, as I may decide to post them early (I was going to wait until I had finished this and had them already written so they were ready, but I'm impatient ;D).

And for those interested in other fandoms, I also have a new fiction planned for Dragonriders of Pern. It will be called 'The Unlikely Queen' but I have no estimate as to when I get that up.

AND, I also plan to continue writing my own original fiction, a story called 'Raven', which I hope to one day get published, if I ever miraculously get good enough for that level ;D (This was also the story I started in November for NaNoWriMo, but never finished).

Not to fear, though, this fanfiction will remain my main priority and I hope to have plently more updates done over the summer for this. As to the companion story 'Touches of Perspective', if people are still interested, I will write it after I have finished with this one. **Please let me know if you are interested in reading the companion story. It will be nice to have an idea as to who will read it. It will basically be a Bella POV of this.**

Anyway, I have kept you too long with this AN. Please let me know what you think by clicking the very nice button below ;D

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	11. Stirrings

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 11 – Stirrings (EPOV)

I waited until the next morning to see the girl again. Through the night, I had continued to play the lullaby over and over, experimenting with different endings, but still nothing fit. I was trying hard not to be frustrated, but the lack of progress was getting to me. Still, I knew it was still only early beginnings, after all it had taken me weeks or months to finish some of my other intricate pieces, and this had so much more meaning in its melody than the others. I wanted it to be perfect.

The rest of my family had eventually retreated to their own respective night time activities which meant that I was alone for the best part of the night. It suited me fine, though. The darkness was calming and helped me to concentrate. And despite not having any progression on the song, I was definitely relaxed now.

Just like with the girl, I needed to be patient. But despite the fact that I had all the time in the world, I was not often a patient person. When it came to her, though, I was willing to work on that. I couldn't afford to push her too soon and end up setting her back, or worse, driving her away from us completely. I didn't know what I would do if that was to happen, so I needed to have patience right now.

As the sun rose, I decided I couldn't wait anymore and quickly rushed to the room on the third floor with the girl. I opened the door quietly, hoping not to disturb her. She was lying still on the bed, exactly as Alice had seen last night, with her hands folded under her head as if she needed the extra support.

She probably found it comfortable, I mused, staring at her. I wondered how old this small human was. When we found her I had estimated that she was most likely about seventeen or eighteen, but seeing her like this she seemed like she could be a few years younger. It wasn't the first time I had thought this either.

I walked over to the couch on the other side of the room and lay down, gazing up at the ceiling. The room was silent except for the quiet sounds of the angel's breathing and the steady beating of her heart. Those two sounds together seemed to be their own form of music though, and just as soothing to me as Clair De Lune had been to her.

I closed my eyes, just listening as I allowed my mind to drift. I don't know how long I lay there in a state as close to sleep as I could possibly get, but I was suddenly roused by the sound of quiet shuffling from the bed.

My eyes flashed open and I looked warily in her direction. She had turned over onto her other side and was staring at me, her brown eyes wide and curious. I smiled at her as I sat up slowly, pushing myself into a standing position.

Carefully, I moved toward her, taking hesitant steps. She blinked at me as I perched on the edge of the bed facing her, but didn't flinch away. I noticed that the blanket had fallen to the side when she had turned, but she didn't seem like she needed it right now, so I left it where it was. My hand went to her face and gently swept her hair back, stroking my fingers through her long tresses.

She tensed at first, but then relaxed into my touch. "Hello, Angel," I whispered softly to her, my fingers still buried in her hair. Her eyes blinked again in response and I wondered if that was her way of greeting me. My mouth curved into a smile.

"Do you want me to put some music on?" I offered, hoping she would try to communicate again. Her expression was torn as she stared up at me and her teeth caught her lower lip in indecision, immediately drawing my attention to her mouth. Finally, she gave me the barest of nods, but it was enough for me. "Okay," I got up readily and moved to my stereo.

I noticed that Alice had left the CD out for me to use and I smiled at her thoughtfulness. The CD was in its case, so I removed it, placing it in the machine and setting it to play.

When I went back to the girl, I found that she had rolled over again, back to her original position, and was looking at me expectantly. Without pausing, I took my usual place stretched out beside her, but leaving some space in between us.

I moved my hand to her cheek and caressed it lightly, staring deep into her brown eyes. They were so much more open now, less wary and fearful. I hoped that meant she was learning to trust me.

She smiled shyly at me and closed her eyes as I moved my fingers into her hair, a soft sigh of contentment escaping her. To my delight, she leaned her head slightly into my palm. It was the first conscious response she had given me that she actually enjoyed the contact I was giving her, rather than just bearing it because she had no choice.

Strangely, I felt a fluttering sensation in my stomach, something like what I had heard the term 'butterflies' being described as and it made me pause. I knew I liked that she was accepting me, but it was more than that. I couldn't put my finger on it, though, but it was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced.

The smile on my face was unstoppable as I beamed down at her. She wasn't looking at me, though, her eyes still shut. My smile softened as I watched her. So beautiful, and so fragile, I thought. She should not have had to suffer.

I let my hand drift down to her shoulder, resting there as I rubbed her skin soothingly. She opened her eyes and stared at me curiously, but did not growl or flinch away as I had predicted. She just lay there and let me. I wondered, not for the first time, why the change in her actions.

She confused me. It seemed one moment, she was growling and warning me away, and then the next she was calm. Perhaps it was the music still playing quietly in the background. She had always been calm whenever I sang to her, so it was possible that it could be that. Either way, I was going to take advantage of it.

Slowly, my hand trailed down her arm, reaching a spot above her elbow. Her muscles tensed minutely and I paused to look up at her, but she showed no visible discomfort, so I continued. My hand travelled further and I hesitated when I reached her bandage, but then carefully traced my fingertips over it, barely brushing the protective material.

Her body quivered as I rested my fingers lightly on the back of her hand. I didn't make a grab to hold it this time. I was going to wait until she was ready. I waited and when she didn't pull away I began delicately stroking all over her hand and fingers, tracing slow, gentle pattern with my fingertips.

Again, I waited. I looked up at her and was surprised by the conflict in her gaze. I watched her closely, unsure, as I cautiously slipped my fingers into her palm, wrapping them loosely around her hand.

Amazingly, and much to my delight, she relaxed as soon as her hand was in mine. The same electricity flowed between our touching skins in an almost welcoming way. I watched our joined hands curiously and she watched with me.

I held her hand gently, using only the lightest of pressure, and stretched out her fingers, feeling the movement of her joints as the muscles flexed. Impulsively, I drew her hand closer to my lips and planted a soft, lingering kiss on the knuckles. My eyes closed as I did so, enjoying the warmth and scent of having her skin close to me.

She gasped slightly, but didn't show any other reaction, leaving me to hold her hand. Glancing up at her warily, I moved my lips up further and kissed her wrist over the bandage, being mindful of her injury.

Keeping her hand in mine, I lifted my head, laying it close to hers on the pillow, and watched her. She was staring at me with an expression I couldn't quite understand and, frustrated, I tried again to read her mind. It was still no use, though; her mind was just as silent as it was when I first found her.

Her eyes moved down to her hand, which I noticed I had been stroking absently with the pad of my thumb. Experimentally, she clenched her fingers around mine, though so weakly that there was barely any strength behind it. The simple movement ignited a stronger fire that flashed through my skin, burning but never painful.

I held my breath as I waited for it to pass, as it did after a moment. I turned her hand in mine, trying to figure out what I had experienced. Somehow, I knew there was something more to it than merely body heat, but I didn't understand my reaction. It felt as if I wanted, _needed_, more of the contact. But I shouldn't want that, I admonished myself. There was no way I would allow that. The girl needed to heal.

During my thoughts, I traced the patterns and lines on her palm, feeling the soft, cushioning skin. The angel had her eyes closed again, but a small crease in her brow and the tempo of her breathing told me she wasn't asleep.

Gently, I swapped her hand into my left one, so I could raise my right and brush her hair. She flinched a bit and her eyes flickered open. "Its okay, Angel," I whispered.

Because the blanket was still bundled up against her back, I had a clear view of the clothes Alice had dressed her in. The top had longish sleeves, so they covered most of her arms, minus where her wrists were bandaged, and it hung loosely around the rest of her torso.

I laid my hand on her side, curving it to the shape of her body. I could feel every one of her ribs as I brushed my fingers along her side. The prominence of them scared me, though I had already known she was underweight. She gave a hardly audible whimper, making me glance up.

She didn't do anything, just watching me with her hand still held in mine, so I went back to my exploration. I stroked my thumb over the ridges of her ribcage again and this time she tensed slightly.

I stared intently at my hand as I felt over her side, calculating how much weight she had lost. It was difficult to do not being able to see and the outline of her body shrouded with the baggy clothes. Had she been fed while she was held captive? How long had she been a held? I frowned as I wondered these things. We didn't even know where she came from. I was sure that there was someone out there who was worried about her disappearance, because she had to have come from somewhere.

My other hand rubbed her smaller one comfortingly as I contemplated. I could faintly here the CD playing in the background, but the sound was lost on me as I focused on other things. I was brought to awareness by the sharp sound of her yelping and I froze, startled, and looked up.

The girl's face was creased in pain and I panicked, thinking I had hurt her while I was distracted. I should have been more careful, paid attention to what I was doing, I berated myself. Quickly, my brain re-evaluated my hold on her and I relaxed as I realised that I had only applied the barest of pressure.

But that fuelled my concern. She was hurt and I had to do something. My hand stroked through her hair soothingly, begging her silently to open her eyes and look at me. "I'm sorry, Angel," I apologised, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Her tiny hand squeezed mine lightly and I shook my head incredulously. _She_ was reassuring _me._ I was the one who had hurt her even though I hadn't actually inflicted any wound on her I had still caused her pain. Alice had said she was covered in bruises. I took my hand away from her face and clenched it in anger. Someone had hurt her badly and I wanted them to pay.

The feelings were new to me, but I already knew that I wanted to protect her, look after her. I was coming to believe that I could possibly do anything for her and that both frightened and thrilled me. I didn't understand the feelings she stirred in me.

The angel opened her brown eyes and gave me a small smile. And everything felt right as I smiled back at her, grasping her hand firmly in mine.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, surprise! Thought I'd get this chapter out eariler, seeing as I had it ready. And it makes a nice Easter present, and I've been in such a good mood all week ;D

So, what do you think? Bella is finally starting to trust Edward and Edward is starting to feel things he's not sure what to make of. He won't realise that he's in love with her for a while yet, though. They're just starting to make a connection. I apologise to those of you who think this story is progressing too slowly, but please bear with me. I do have a plan for this story and there are things I want to happen before Bella gets to the point of speaking to anyone. I'm sorry that the waiting is so frustrating and I can totally understand what you are feeling. I only hope I can make it worth it for you in the end.

**Note**

**I was thinking, when this is finished, of going back over it and rewriting it. I can't even remember when I wrote the first chapters, but I think it was around a year ago. I would like the chance to make any possible improvements. This won't be until I have finished, mind, but I wanted to know what you think.**

**I will, of course, be making the chapters much longer, seeing as it would all have been written by then, but I wanted to know whether I should replace this or make an entirely new story for it. I was thinking more the latter because I don't know what will happen to the reviews of future chapters when there is no longer a chapter of that number.**

Anyway, let me know what you think, both of the idea and of this chapter ;D.

As always, a preview of the next chapter will be given to those who review! Hopefully, I should have another chapter ready by May (the time I said I would put this out ;D).

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	12. Beginnings of Trust

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 12 – Beginnings of Trust (EPOV)

The girl was perfectly calm now, with no hint of any pain in her features. I was still worried, but I knew I had to wait for Carlisle to check her so I just worked on not showing my stress to the girl.

I held her hand in both of mine, stroking gently over every part in soothing motions. She didn't show any aversion to what I was doing as she lay there and watched me. Her deep brown eyes, I had noticed, could give me great insight into her that my ability could not. When she was not on the defensive, I could read a lot of emotions there that her face did not reveal.

We went so long in silence, the only sound being the soft tones from the speakers and our steady breathing, that I was surprised when she moved suddenly. Her free hand lifted tentatively towards our joined hands, her fingers outstretched toward my hand.

I stayed as still as a statue as I waited while she debated with herself. I could feel the heat of her warm palm on the back of my hand despite the distance that remained between us and I had to fight the urge to reach out to her hand. This had to be her decision, I thought.

Slowly, her hand lowered until the tips of her fingers pressed cautiously to my cold, marble skin, immediately igniting the electricity. Her hand stayed there and I looked up to take in her expression. She was staring at my hand as if she was analysing it. Maybe she was noting the differences in my cold, dead flesh compared to hers, vital and alive, or wondering about the strange spark that sprang to life each time we touched. I know that I was thinking of the latter.

I watched in amazement as she ran a hesitant finger over the back of my hand and along my fingers, trailing back and forth a few times in a similar way to what I had done to her. She did this several times before withdrawing from the contact and tucking her arm close to herself again.

Her touch left a trail of fire across my skin that tingled even now that the contact was removed. I pondered that briefly, as confused by this as I was by my own emotional response to her.

I smiled when I noticed the perplexed look on her face as she glanced between our separated hands. She looked rather cute when she was concentrating like that. I was immediately shocked by that thought. When did I start thinking things like that? I wondered.

She raised her gaze to meet mine and gave me another of her small, shaky smiles. But what made me smile in return was that, in her eyes, she actually looked _happy_, and seeing that made me exceptionally happy as well. It was as if my emotions always matched hers. If she was in pain, so was I, or if she was afraid then I wanted to comfort her and protect her.

I didn't know what to think of my reactions since the girl had come into my life. I had never felt this way towards anyone before, not even my own family. It was true that I loved my parents and my siblings and mostly we got along really well, but this just seemed different in a way that I couldn't explain.

I had never felt the need to protect someone as strongly as I did towards this girl and I didn't even know anything about her. But she was already becoming important to me, worming her way into a special place in my still heart. I wanted more than anything to help her, to see her get better again. I wanted to see her smile, hear her laugh, her voice.

She hadn't spoken a word since we had found her. We didn't actually know if she was capable of talking, but I was confident. I knew she could understand us, so it was likely that she could talk as well. She just needed time. And I wasn't going to rush her, despite my own selfish desires. I was just going to be there and support her where she needed it.

The quiet wasn't uncomfortable, rather the opposite. It was peaceful, comforting in a strange way. We both lay together silently, my hand still holding hers securely while her fingers wrapped lightly around my own. I watched her, fascinated, and found myself absorbed in my own little world, consisting only of this beautiful angel.

I was so distracted that I didn't hear Alice's thoughts as she approached the room until she was opening the door. The angel immediately tensed and started growling as she stared over my shoulder to where I could sense Alice standing.

"Shh," I hushed her gently, stroking her hair and humming softly, "It's okay, it's just Alice, my sister." I wondered if she remembered how my sister had washed and dressed her and how that would affect her reaction to her. She didn't seem to like her being close, though that was possibly because she wasn't as used to her as she was to me.

Alice came around behind me, hesitantly walking closer to us as she watched the girl cautiously. Before I could warn her not to, she sat down on the bed on the girl's other side, causing it to dip under her weight.

The girl whimpered slightly and shuffled closer to me. She was trembling again, I noted. It was a reaction I hadn't seen for a while, only this time it wasn't directed at me. I felt a swell of emotions in my heart that she was coming closer to me for protection, but I pushed it away. I had to focus on her now.

My hand went to her shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly. "Hey, you're fine," I murmured, encouraging her to look up at me. When she met my eyes, I gave her a smile, my fingers carefully squeezing on her shoulder. She blinked at me purposefully and relaxed. My smile widened. She trusted me, I thought, amazed.

I could make out some of Alice's thoughts turning over in her head as she observed my interaction with the girl. I waited for her to say something, knowing it wouldn't take long. I was right. "It's strange the way she responds to you," she mused quietly. Her hand reached out to touch her.

"Don't, Alice," I warned, nearly pleading as I looked worriedly at the girl under my hand. She ignored me and laid her palm next to mine, slightly lower on her arm. The girl flinched away at the new contact and her trembling increased as she glanced at me fearfully. I resumed massaging her shoulder, hoping to reassure her.

"She reacts so differently to each of our touches," she continued, "I guess that's because she trusts you more than me." Her words sent a thrill of pleasure through me, but I couldn't focus on that yet. I was thankful when she took her hand back, but the girl didn't settle.

It took me another minute of quiet soothing before she finally relaxed. She moved further away from Alice, consequently bringing her closer to me. I was relieved that she was okay, but now that my worry for her was out of the forefront of my mind I found myself annoyed at my sister's intrusion into our peace.

"Was there a particular purpose for your visit?" I asked her, trying and failing to not sound irritated. I was running out of patience for her.

She shrugged at me, her eyes remaining on the quiet girl. "I wanted to see her," she mumbled, trailing on in her thoughts, _she looks so vulnerable_. She shook her head and looked back to me. "Carlisle will be home soon and he'll want to talk to you," she told me.

I nodded but glanced anxiously down and met the two brown eyes of the girl. As if she could read my thoughts, Alice added, "I can stay with her." I sent her a wary look and she rolled her eyes. "I won't touch her or anything," she promised, "I'll just sit here and maybe talk to her a bit."

"She might like that," I said, smiling fondly at the angel. "Have you seen anything yet?" I asked Alice, returning my gaze to her.

She smiled sadly, but answered. "I keep getting flashes, but they're all different. Sometimes I see her better and she's up and moving around the house. But other times, she's just like this, lying here and not moving," she shook her head and frowned in frustration, "I don't know what to make of them and there's no way for me to place the timing, either, which complicates things."

At least she had seen that the girl could get better, I thought. That was something more than we had before. "Don't beat yourself up, Alice," I told my sister, "It's not your fault."

"I know," she sighed. Her eyes blanked out in a vision then, but before I could ask she was already talking to me. "Carlisle will be home in two minutes. Why don't you go wait for him in his study?" She suggested.

I heaved a sigh and reluctantly sat up. The girl's eyes followed me, suddenly frantic, and I reached out to soothe her. "It's okay, I'll be back soon," I murmured, brushing my hand along her cheek, "Alice will be here."

She glanced over at Alice and then back to me and blinked. I smiled at her and nodded, happy that she understood, but I knew she wasn't comfortable with the situation. "Look after her," I spoke to Alice, "Please."

"Of course I will, Edward," she said exasperated.

I chuckled at her reaction. "Thanks, Alice," I said amicably as I stood up, going over to the door. The last thing I saw as I left the room was the girl's worried brown eyes watching me intently as I walked away.

My heart panged and I had the brief urge to turn around and go back to her. I couldn't stand to leave her when she was like that. But I had to speak to Carlisle so I forced myself to walk down the hall and to his study, which I entered and took a seat to wait.

It didn't take long for Carlisle to find me, but I spent that time thinking about the girl. I couldn't help but wonder about what Alice had pointed out to me. Was it really possible that she already trusted me more than the others? It shouldn't have come as such a surprise considering that I spent much more time with her than the rest of my family had.

The door opened and my adoptive father came in, smiling when he noticed me seated opposite his desk. "Hello, Edward," he chuckled, "I'm assuming Alice told you I wanted to talk?"

I nodded my head and smiled ruefully. "You want to do another examination of the girl," I stated simply.

Carlisle looked at me seriously for a moment before moving to sit at his desk, resting his elbows on it and knitting his fingers in front of his face. "You know that we need to check her more thoroughly, Edward," he said, "The last time I looked at her was quick, just enough for me to get a basic evaluation of her condition. But now, she's been here a few days and I need to know more. Alice has said she's covered with bruises under her clothes which I find very worrying. I think it is necessary to do this now."

I sighed. I knew this as well and I had been worrying about her condition frequently. This way we could see if there was anything that needed serious attention and decide what else to do.

"I also want to see about getting her to eat something," he continued, "She hasn't eaten anything since she arrived here a few days ago and we have no idea how long ago before that she last ate. But we'll have to be slow. It may take us a while to convince her, but she trusts you, which is why I want you to be there."

"I will be," I promised. Nothing would make me leave her alone, especially when I knew that she wasn't going to like what had to be done. I just hoped it wouldn't set me back with her again.

Carlisle nodded gratefully, looking at me curiously. "Thank you, Edward. That's all I'm asking for," he said. "And, of course, you're medical experience will come in handy," he chuckled.

I gave him a small smile as I stood up. "We'll wait until tomorrow," he called after me, "I think it would be better then." I nodded once and returned to my old room, feeling the anticipation build in me as I got closer to being with the girl.

When I opened the door, I saw that Alice had taken my place, where the girl could clearly see her, and I saw that the girl was watching her warily as my sister talked to her in soft tones. The girl was the first one to look up at my entrance and she looked relieved to see me. I smiled.

"It will be fine, Edward," Alice assured me when she looked up. _She'll be fine,_ she added in her thoughts. I guessed she was talking about tomorrow and while I trusted her judgement, it didn't rid me of my worry. "I'll leave you to it," she looked down at the girl and then stood up and left shortly.

I watched the girl as she blinked at me and let out a yawn. I chuckled in amusement. "Why don't you go to sleep," I persuaded gently, stepping closer to her so I could sweep a hand through her hair.

She gave me a small nod, yawned once more, and closed her eyes tightly, slipping easily into sleep.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, so sorry about the late update. I know I promised this sooner, but at least its out now ;D. Hopefully, you aren't getting too frustrated with me on this and if you are, I apologise again.

So, it was my birthday two days ago, and I am now officially 19 years old ;D. Yay me! And I can't believe how long I have been on this site! I think it was like in 2008 that I joined, so nearly three years! Whoa ;P.

And in other news, I have posted a new oneshot called 'Hold Me in Your Warm Embrace', so feel free to read that one should you wish; its not very long. I may do other oneshots every now and then, but I promise this is my main fanfiction. However, NaNoWriMo is going to be running a Camp NaNo over the summer, which I hope to participate in so I don't know how much writing I'll get done on this, but I promise I'll do my best. I am also going to be out of the country for a week starting in two weeks, so I won't be writing then either :{. But I will be back ;D.

Anyway, I am going to leave you with this. Please let me know what you think. I have so far been amazed at the amount of reviews I have recieved on this, so thank you so much for all of your support out there, it really inspires me to keep writing ;D. And congratulations to 'Anulovesedwardbella' for being my 200th reviewer ;D

As usual, reviewers receive a preview of the next chapter. Thanks in advance for any reviews ;D

Bye for now!

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	13. Examinations

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 13 – Examinations (EPOV)

The next morning, I waited anxiously for the girl to wake. Carlisle had decided to examine her in the room she was staying in instead of moving her to the medical room. He thought it would be less stressful for her, but I wasn't sure how much difference it would make overall. I did agree, though, that she would not like being picked up again, so this was the best option for us.

Alice had said she would be fine, but whether she meant with this examination or in the long run, I wasn't sure. I wanted to believe it was both, but I didn't know for certain. It didn't help that Alice's visions were still compromised.

I sat on the couch, watching the girl as she slept calmly on the bed, while trying not to think about what she would look like in a couple of hours. Her hair fell to the pillows around her head, making her seem even more like an angel.

I didn't have to wait long before she stirred and turned her head to blink at me. I smiled at her as I made my way around the bed to lie in my usual position. "Good morning, Angel," I greeted, giving her a slightly crooked smile.

She gave me a small, tremulous smile in return. I gazed at her tenderly as I stroked her cheek, admiring the way the muted light from the window shined on her pale skin, though it was not strong enough to make my own skin sparkle. It wasn't long before I was reminded by Carlisle's presence that we had something serious to do.

Reluctantly, I pulled my hand away causing her to look at me curiously. "Angel," I started hesitantly, my eyes tightening with anxiety, "We need to check you again; look at your arms and make sure you're alright." To demonstrate my point, I brushed a finger down her bandaged wrist.

Her eyes widened and I knew she understood. She snatched her arm back and continued staring at me, wide eyed in panic.

I hurried to try and comfort and reassure her, taking her hand delicately in mine and rubbing it gently. "We're not going to hurt you, I promise," I looked into her eyes sincerely. "We just need to make sure you're alright. I'll be there the whole time," I added.

She still looked worried, but gave me a tiny nod to show her assent. I flashed another small smile and spoke without turning away from her. "Carlisle," I called quietly, sitting up so I could help my father better.

Carlisle opened the door carefully and stepped inside. The girl's eyes fixed on him warily as he came to my side. I could hear her breathing picking up as she looked from Carlisle to me and back. "It's okay," I said softly, holding her hand and using my other to stroke her cheek.

_Edward,_ Carlisle thought, _can I come closer, do you think?_ I looked closely at the girl, examining her reactions. Cautiously, I nodded, keeping my eyes on her. He came closer to the end of the bed, watching her as I was.

I tried to keep her attention on me by turning her face so her eyes met mine. "Alright, I'm just going to look at your feet," Carlisle warned aloud, his tone quiet and calming.

She tensed slightly and looked frantically at me. "Shh," I hushed gently, "You're fine. It's okay, you're fine." I kept murmuring comfortingly to her as I caressed her face and ran my hand through her hair.

Carlisle lifted one of her bare feet into his hands and inspected it, running practised fingers over the grazes, now clearly visible without the dirt. _These seem to be fine,_ he thought to himself, _no signs of infection, good. Not sure about the rate of healing._

I didn't quite know what he meant by that last thought, but I refrained from asking right now. After he had examined both of her feet, he looked up at me with a grave expression. We both knew this would be the hardest part.

So far the girl had distracted herself by looking at me, but I didn't know what she would do if Carlisle were to try and hold her arms again. _Edward, can you hold her hand but raise her wrist so I can look at it? _He asked me. I nodded to him.

I already had one of her hands in one of mine, so I carefully moved it out from between us. Carlisle leaned over to undo the bandaging and the girl's heart started to pound in her chest. Her eyes flickered back and forth, from me to Carlisle, with a wild look glittering in their depths. She was close to losing her sense of reason to her panic, I noted.

My free hand went to the side of her head as she lifted it weakly to look at Carlisle. I held her carefully as I started humming and her eyes glazed as she stared at me. It calmed her for a minute, but as soon as Carlisle's hands touched her wrist, she broke out of it. I tried to soothe her quickly.

"Just relax," I whispered before she could panic, "Look at me. It will be over soon, we just need to make sure you're okay." She listened to me and did as I said, but I could see the struggle inside her and the way her eyes still darted to my father every few seconds.

I listened in to Carlisle's monologue as he worked, being careful not to touch her any more than necessary. _This still looks really bad, I thought it would have started to heal by now, but it doesn't look like it has._ He frowned. _There's no infection, though. I can't see a reason why it wouldn't be healing._ That worried me. She wasn't healing? I thought. Why not? And most important of all, what did that mean for the girl?

After he had thoroughly examined the injury, he wrapped it tightly in a clean bandage and let me take it away. Once I had let go, the girl looked relieved as she pulled her arm close to her. I smiled and rubbed her arm lightly, before taking her other hand and repeating.

I watched the girl, looking down on her as she stared up at me, and I felt my heart swell with tenderness towards her. She looked so vulnerable, trembling with her eyes filled with fear, though at the same time I noticed that she looked so beautiful.

Carlisle stepped back as he released her wrist and s he gladly took it back when I let go. Before he said anything, I remembered something that had concerned me. "Carlisle, her ribs were bothering her," I said, frowning in worry.

He glanced at me and nodded. _Alright, _he thought._ You know that I'm going to need to turn her over?_ I pressed my lips together into a tight line and gave him a short nod. I knew that he would need me to hold her down again and I knew I wouldn't like how she would react. _Okay._

Regretfully, I placed my hands on her shoulders to slowly and gently turn her over. She bucked under my hands, pushing her back off the bed as she resisted the change in position. I rubbed her arm soothingly, whispering softly to her.

"Alright, sweetheart," Carlisle murmured, sitting himself on the edge of the bed opposite me. "Can I take a look?" He gestured to her top.

She looked at him and then turned to me, desperation marring her features. "It's okay," I whispered, leaning forward so my face was aligned with hers. "I'm not going to let him hurt you." Her eyes searched my face for a long moment. And then she blinked.

I inclined my head slightly to Carlisle and his expert fingers, tugged at the hem of her shirt, lifting it. I sucked in a sharp breath as her skin was exposed. A dark bruise coated her front, over her abdomen and ribs.

Carlisle's thoughts were astounded at the amount of bruising and disgusted with whoever could do this to such a young girl. With the flat of his hand, he carefully applied pressure to the worst of the area. _There isn't any internal bleeding, thank goodness, but I'm surprised she didn't complain about this before,_ he looked up at her, scrutinizing her face, _not that she's done _any_ complaining._

Satisfied with that, he prodded at her ribs, checking for any broken bones or fractures. _Her ribs are completely fine, so it's just the bruising,_ he concluded. I let out a breath of relief I hadn't known I was holding.

"I think that's all," Carlisle spoke, smiling at the girl who just stared up at him. She glanced back to me as I turned her onto her side and lay down beside her, but as soon as she was on her side, she turned her head into the pillows, away from me, and her body started trembling lightly. I frowned sorrowfully at her.

Carlisle stood to leave, but froze as something caught his attention. Slowly, he stretched a hand out to her back and pulled up her shirt again, his breath leaving his lungs in a whoosh. _My, God,_ he thought, shocked

I stared at him inquisitively, wondering what was wrong, but then I saw in his mind exactly what he had seen and my fists clenched hard enough for the tendons to stand out white against my already pale skin. All across her back were painful looking bruises, but not only that, there were small gashes where the skin had split open, leaving it raw. It was Carlisle who spotted the resemblance.

_These are boot prints,_ he thought, horrified. With one hand, he touched the outline of the sole of a boot that was clearly visible, imprinted on her back, not paying attention when she flinched away from him. Someone had done this to her. Someone had hurt her. Of course, I knew she had been mistreated by whoever had held her, but finding more evidence caused an inexplicable agony to resonate within me.

A low growl rumbled in my chest, but cut off abruptly as the girl whimpered into the pillow. I was angry, but more than that, I was protective. At the moment, all I wanted was to pull this precious girl into my arms and hold her safe.

I still didn't understand these feelings, but I didn't push them back this time. My hand stroked her hair soothingly, begging her silently to show me her brown orbs. She didn't look up as Carlisle lowered her top back into place and stood away from her. _Look after her, son,_ he said to me as he quietly left the room, leaving her in my care. _She obviously needs you more than me right now._

"Angel," I whispered. She whimpered again in response, but didn't lift her head from her hiding place. "I'm sorry," I mumbled pathetically, my hand still rhythmically flowing through her hair. I felt guilty for putting her through that, knowing she wouldn't like it, but I was doing what was best. She needed help and I was getting it to her, however she might see it.

My apology seemed to have some effect on her, though, as she finally looked up at me with confusion evident across her face. She blinked at me and I smiled slightly. "Are you alright?" I asked, concerned.

She seemed surprised by my question which was perhaps why she answered immediately with a simple nod. I sighed in relief and reached to take her hand, silently asking permission with my eyes. With her small hand back in mine she relaxed, but minute tremors continued to run through her.

As her brown eyes stared at me I was reminded of the song those eyes had inspired and I smiled at the memory. Softly, I began humming the familiar melody, though incomplete it still held the meaning behind its creation and the pattern of calm that it painted I hoped would soothe her.

Her eyes were fixed on me as I sang quietly to her, my fingers stroking softly through her hair. It still amazed me how she seemed to be so entranced every time I did this. Her hand was warm in mine and her skin soft to the touch.

As her eyes began to droop, I knew I should leave to let her rest in peace, but I couldn't resist staying a little longer to see what would happen. As I continued to hum her lullaby to her, she closed her eyes and sighed softly. It was sign of her increasing trust in me that she was allowing me to get close to her and I couldn't prevent the jubilant smile from spreading onto my face. Soon, her breathing evened out and she was fast asleep.

I stared at her in wonder. She had allowed me to sing her to sleep, I thought, amazed. I was delighted by this progress and the growing connection between us.

The door opened and I knew from their thoughts who had just entered, but it was the last person I would have expected.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys. So finally got another update up ;D. Yay! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I certainly enjoyed writing it ;D. Is there anything that surprised you in this? And I apologise for the massive gap between chapters. I honestly have no excuse, but I hope you'll forgive me.

So, I have a question. Does anyone know if the changes to the fanfiction account login bit going to be permanent? I can't seem to find any information that says either way so I would be grateful if any of you know anything ;D.

I have also been looking for a story called 'Lumos and Nox'. I have no idea who wrote it, if it was taken down or just renamed or something. Its a twilight and Harry Potter crossover and if I recall its a kind of rewrite of the Order of the Phoenix, but where Bella is the one needed to be protected. If anyone knows of this story, I would be so much more than grateful for anything you can tell me.

**I have set up a poll on my profile** so I can work out how many people will be interested in reading the rewrite of this story. I won't be doing it until this one is finished, but it will have like spelling and grammatical changes as well as some slight changes to plot and have longer chapters as well. Feel free to let me know what you think in a review or PM, but also don't forget to vote ;D. Thanks.

**Also, I would be grateful to anyone who checks out my one-shot 'Hold Me in Your Warm Embrace', especially the author's note as I have plans for continuing the story and want people's perception on that as well. So, I think this is it for me, for now. Sorry for the long AN again.**

All reviewers will receive a teaser of the next chapter. Thanks so much for reading! ;D

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	14. Turnabout

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 14 – Turnabout (RPOV)

I stood outside the room after Carlisle had left. I didn't want to admit it, but I was curious about the girl, which was unusual for my usually cold front towards others. But there was something about her, possibly how innocent and childlike she seemed, that drew me to her.

She seemed just like a lost and frightened child and I swore that if I ever found out who had hurt her, they would regret ever laying a hand on her. The others didn't know how I felt about her, except maybe Edward, and I wanted to keep it that way for now. I knew Edward would never reveal my private thoughts, so I wasn't worried about that ever happening.

But I couldn't help wanting to see her again. I hadn't seen anything of her other than the brief glimpse I caught as Edward carried her into the house with Emmett and Jasper following behind. Of course, Emmett had told me about how they found her. Even if he thought I wasn't interested, he could never resist telling me something like this and for once I was glad of it. I wanted to know about this girl.

The poor girl had been a mess when we first saw her, but I had nothing to compare it to now in my own mind. The only information I had to go by was what Edward, Alice and Carlisle had told us, seeing as no one else had seen her. They didn't think she would take to having others around her so soon.

Which is why I was waiting outside the room and listening as Edward hummed the tune I recognised from the piano piece he had been composing. I smirked as I realised that she must have been the inspiration for it. He was already very attached to her, and though I was curious of the girl, this realisation made me nervous. If something happened to her, or if she had to leave, then what would happen to him?

It was inevitable that she would leave eventually. She probably had a family out there who were worried sick about her, and as soon as she was better she would have to return to them. And even if she didn't, we were vampires so it wasn't safe for her to live with us. Not forgetting that, with her being human, she would age and die while we remained.

At least we didn't have to think about that just yet. The girl was still in poor shape and needed a lot of help, and as much as I disagreed at first, I knew that Carlisle was the best at what he did. If anyone could help her, it was him.

I waited a moment longer, until I was sure the girl was asleep, before gripping the door handle firmly and turning it. When I was inside, I took in the sight of Edward lying on the bed with the girl curled up, eyes closed and peacefully asleep.

The door closed quietly behind me, but Edward didn't look up. I was certain that he knew I was here, but I didn't mind the lack of acknowledgement to my arrival. It gave me the opportunity to observe the girl I had been fighting myself about seeing.

I stood to the side of the room, facing the end of the bed, so I had a perfect view of how close Edward and the girl were lying and how his hand held hers delicately, as if he was afraid he would break it. It was unusual for him, but I could see how much he cared for her; more than I had thought possible, in fact.

Edward watched the girl carefully for a moment and then slowly leaned over her to grab the blue blanket Esme had given him to take to her. Gently, he spread it out over her, making sure she was covered and even tucking it in around her. I stared, fascinated, at the apparent caring and tenderness in his interaction with her.

The girl stirred in her sleep and one of her arms moved up until her hand could grip the top edge of the blanket tightly in her fist. Edward smiled tenderly down at her, his eyes brimming with emotion as his hand softly stroked her cheek with a gentle caress.

I don't think I had ever seen Edward as sensitive to someone else as he was to this unknown girl, not even with his own family. He had been alone for the last ninety years of his life and now it seemed like he could finally be truly happy. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Don't get me wrong, I was happy for my brother. But she was a human. Eventually, complications would arise. Most likely from the Volturi if she was to remain with us, for she would certainly have to be told of our secret. Of course, we could always change her... I cut that thought off. I wasn't ready to accept her into the family yet and we had other problems to deal with now, like getting her better and finding her real family. Besides, she should be allowed to live a normal human life, to find a husband and have children and grow old and eventually die. That was the way of things.

I brushed my concerns off for now and continued watching Edward with the girl. As he stared at her, I decided it was time that I say something. "You care for her," I spoke as a statement. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from him.

"I do," my brother said softly, brushing a lock of brown hair back from her face, "I just want to see her get better."

"Don't we all," I muttered under my breath. He could hear me well enough, obviously, but he didn't comment on my remark. Either he wasn't going to waste the time to make a snarky come back, or he heard something from my mind that assuaged him. Both were likely possibilities.

I turned to the girl again, noting how, despite the rest, she still looked exhausted. Her cheeks were drawn, dark circles resided under her eyes and her skin was pale and translucent. Not as pale as us, but still pale for a human. And I saw the state of her body before Edward had placed the blanket over her. She was underweight as well, but I had no idea how bad it was.

Edward sighed sadly at my observation. I could almost feel the helplessness radiating off of him and I sought a different line of conversation as a distraction. _Emmett would be so jealous of me right now,_ I thought, smirking.

It worked and he looked up at me questioningly. I gave him a small smile as I explained. "He's been dying to see the girl again, but Alice and Carlisle keep telling him no. He hasn't stopped complaining all the time you've been up here," I said quietly. I smiled slightly, remembering his annoying whining. I knew it was only because he cared for her, though, so I couldn't complain. Emmett wanted to protect her and take her under his wing, as much as the rest of the family seemed to.

He laughed lightly and glanced down at the girl, thoughtfully. "I wonder what she'll think of him," he mused, "She'll probably be terrified of his size at first. Anyone would be. But he can be such a softie and he has his blunt way of easing the tension of any situation. It would be interesting, in the least. I don't know how she would react."

He was most likely right. But my husband had already taken this girl to his heart and I knew if he ever hurt her then it wouldn't be intentional. He might even be some good to her. Part of me really hoped so.

"Carlisle wanted to call another meeting," I said, suddenly remembering what he'd said on the stairs as he passed me. "He wants to discuss her condition and what he wants to do now. He told me to bring you down once you'd gotten her settled," I nodded my head to the girl.

Edward nodded in acceptance, but he gazed longingly down at the small, sleeping girl tucked up in her ball beside him. _She'll be fine, Edward,_ I thought to him, understanding that he didn't want to leave her alone. _She's asleep for now and I'm sure she can rest more peacefully if we aren't here to bother her._

He sighed, but nodded again as he gingerly moved off the bed, careful not to jostle her sleeping form. I left the room, knowing that he would follow and not wanting to intrude when I sensed that he wanted privacy. I may be a bitch sometimes, but I wasn't oblivious and I could take care of others' needs when I wanted, I thought to myself as I walked down to meet the rest of the family.

(EPOV)

I lingered by the girl as Rosalie left the room. To say I had been surprised by her visit was an understatement, but her thoughts showed me that despite her reservations she was starting to care for her as we all were. Though I doubted she would admit it to any of the others just yet.

I was hesitant to leave the girl, even though I knew that Rosalie was right and she would still be safe and asleep without me there. It just didn't feel right for me to leave her. The need to protect her had only grown stronger with knowing how badly she had been hurt.

I couldn't let her get hurt again, though I knew that desire was irrational. She was safe with my family. Well, as safe as any human can be in a house full of vampires, but at least I could be sure that no one would intentionally try to hurt her.

That thought calmed me and eased some of the tension in my muscles. Still, I bent down to her once more to lightly press my palm to her cheek, brushing my thumb across her cheekbone. With a last glance to her sleeping face, I turned and followed my sister from the room.

Everyone was gathered and waiting when I arrived downstairs and joined them. Carlisle's thoughts questioned me and I nodded, telling him that she was sound asleep upstairs. He nodded in return, satisfied with my answer.

Carlisle cleared his throat unnecessarily to gain our attention and we all looked to him. "So, c'mon Doc. Tell us how bad it was," Emmett asked solemnly. He knew this was going to be bad, but was trying to make it easier on everyone. Carlisle gave him a small smile before starting talking.

"Well, overall she seems to be fine," he started cautiously, "The cuts and abrasions on her wrists and feet are clear, though for some reason she doesn't seem to be healing. But that could just be a result of her malnourishment and her body's way of not wasting energy." That was only a theory, but it worked for now, I noted.

"Otherwise, it seems that Alice was right," he continued, frowning sadly, "She has some pretty bad bruising over her ribs and abdomen, though thankfully no internal damage or damage to the ribs. But the most concerning find is probably her back." He looked at everyone seriously for a moment before he spoke. "The bruises and lacerations on her back are in the clear shape of boot prints."

My hands convulsed into fists on my lap as I remembered the marks and her whimpers of fear as she cringed from us. My anger burned in my chest, rising to my throat as I suppressed a growl. Several shocked gasps went around the room at this news; even Alice was surprised, apparently not having seen this earlier. Esme looked appalled, while Emmett's expression matched my own furious one.

"You mean some bastard beat her up and left her like an unwanted puppy?" He seethed, teeth gritted and fists clenched as his muscles rippled. I flinched at his phrasing and looked to my father for his response.

Carlisle shook his head. "I'm afraid it's much worse than that," he added darkly, "There are multiple bruises, some older than others, with newer ones overlapping the older ones. That means that the beatings happened over a long period of time and probably on a regular basis. The newer bruises were inflicted before the older ones had had a chance to heal sufficiently, which would have taken a heavy toll on her already fragile body. Combined with the rope burns on her wrists that show she was bound, someone obviously wanted to inflict a large amount of pain on her."

"My God," Jasper muttered, his thoughts tinged with disgust towards the monster that did this to my angel. His arm tightened protectively around Alice at his side in an instinctive reaction to the stress he was feeling, both from himself and everyone else in the room.

"Well, some good news is that she's not as severely underweight as I'd originally thought," Carlisle went on, trying to lift the dark atmosphere that had settled over our group. "She's still underweight, of course, and we'll still need to get her to eat something soon, but it shouldn't be as difficult as I predicted. Hopefully, she won't have to be under as strict a dieting as I had planned."

He turned to Esme then. "Do you think you could cook something easy for her to eat?" He asked, "Just something light, like some broth that won't be heavy on her stomach. We need to get her body used to having food again."

Esme smiled brightly at him. "Of course," she agreed, happy to be able to help.

Carlisle nodded in thanks. "Good. I think we should try to get her to eat something when she wakes up," he looked to me for confirmation and I nodded in acquiescence without glancing up from my folded hands.

I needed to get out of here for a bit. There was too much tension, too much to think about and all of my thoughts constantly swirling in my head, revolving around the girl, were coming close to giving me the first vampire headache. I needed to clear my head and the best way for me to do that was to go for a run.

But I wanted to be here in case the angel woke up. She had been alone in her room before and my family wouldn't intrude on her, but still I wanted to be close to her when she woke. _Don't worry, Edward,_ Alice's thoughts assured me, _she'll be asleep for a couple of hours still. That's plenty of time for you to get back to her._

I smiled my thanks to my sister and made my excuses to the rest of them before swiftly darting from the house into the dense, cool cover of the forest canopy.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey Guys, I cannot apologise more for such a late update. I honestly had no idea how long it had been. I also apologise for not sending out my usual teaser, but I figured you would like me more if I gave you the whole chapter instead ;D. So, what do you guys think? Good? Bad? How was my Rosalie POV? She's still cautious, but she's not totally against having Bella in the house afterall ;D. I'm not sure I portrayed her very well; it may be something to change on the rewrite ;P.

**THANK YOU** to all my wonderful readers out there for sticking with this story and for reviewing. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're all bearing with me through my unbearably slow updates.

Sorry that there wasn't much happening in this chapter and probably not the next either. This one was basically Carlisle's summary of Bella's condition and the family's reaction to it. And the next one will be Edward's thoughts and maybe a little of something else ;D. I think the chapter after that will be Edward and Carlisle feeding Bella (at long last! Lol).

I know that it's taken a lot of time to get to that point and I'm ashamed to say it will probably be a long time still before she speaks, but I promise that I'm not giving up on this story, so don't worry, it will all happen eventually. The thing I find on all my stories is I go too fast, so this is more of a play on slowing things down and admittedly it may have been too much, but I do have a plan, no fear.

A lot of you have been wondering things like, why hasn't she eaten or used the toilet. To answer the first, yes that is something Carlisle was concerned about, but Alice persuaded him that using a feeding tube would be more traumatic to her, so they are waiting to gain more of her trust, which they have now done. As to the other, well that's more to do with what Bella is. I wonder if you can figure it out ;D.

And the Cullens will discover what she is before she starts to make a recovery, so you have that to look forward to as well ;D. Hope I've left you with some things to think about.

**WARNING!** I am, unfortunately, starting back at my Uni at the end of September, so I will have less time to write. (The preparation for which as well as my holiday is the reason for the lack of recent updates). For this, I apologise in advance, but I will try to write when I can and get some chapters up for you.

As a final note to those who are still wondering about the Bella POVs, I will be posting a companion story to this called 'Touches of Perspective' from her POV, but it won't be posted until this is finished. Mainly because I find it hard to do her POV without revealing things that haven't been brought up in this story ;D. But it is still going ahead. And the rewrite of this will be done as a seperate story as well, if people are still interested.

All reviewers will receive a preview of the next chapter, as always. And I apologise for the massively long AN. Please, let me know what you think of this! ;D

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	15. The Necklace

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 15 – The Necklace (EPOV)

I hunted as I ran, doing anything for a distraction. I was worried and anxious about the girl and no matter how hard I tried not to think about it I couldn't stop my mind from repeating everything I knew about her.

Carlisle's words repeated in my head. She had been abused multiple times, probably over an extended period. I didn't want to think of what she went through, how much she suffered and the pain she was in. It was no wonder that she didn't want to trust us.

But she was starting to trust me. What was it about me that she had seen to make her trust me, I wondered. It could have been that I was around her a lot, certainly more than the others, but there had to have been _something_ for her to hold onto. I sighed and shook my head.

It was no use puzzling over this now, I had more important things to be thinking of, all of them revolving around the girl getting better. I didn't know what to expect when we went to try and feed her. Would she fight, resist us? I hoped not, it would only make things more difficult.

But it wasn't like anything had been easy with her so far, so why now? I ran again, fuelling my legs faster with the frustration I was feeling. I wanted to help her so badly, and I still didn't understand that desire but I knew it was powerful. I just didn't know what to do about it.

Alice told me to trust myself. So far, I seemed to have made progress with her. I knew she understood me so when I talked to her I tried to comfort her and reassure her that I wasn't going to hurt her. I realised now that the odd expression I had seen on her face before, when she moved away from me, was because she didn't understand why I hadn't done anything to her.

It made me think that she hadn't had any positive contact in a while, only being touched when someone was hurting her. I was pained by that and again struck by the desperation to know who had done this to her so I could tear him apart for making an angel suffer like that.

I had to restrain that urge though. We had no information that could help us in any way, not even to identify the girl, so we didn't know who had taken her or what had happened. And the only person who could tell us was the girl and she wasn't talking just yet, so the anger was pointless. It was still there, though.

A growl ripped from my chest at the frustration and I lashed out at the nearest tree, tearing a chunk from its trunk. I stared morosely at the damage, wondering if it was someone lashing out that had hurt my angel.

No, I shook my head furiously. I wasn't going to compare myself to that monster. I was a monster of a different kind, yes, but I would never have hurt her. I will never hurt her.

I caught the scent of a deer and raced to it, snapping its neck in an instant before sinking my teeth into it. The warm blood helped calm my nerves some and I took a deep breath, calming myself. I couldn't afford to take this out near the girl and risk her being hurt; it was better spent out here, away from her. That was why I needed to get away for a bit.

My anger at what this angel had suffered and the monster behind it had begun clouding my head and I needed to clear it. I pushed the dead carcass away from me and started running again.

The rush of air past me as I let my feet carry me was refreshing, liberating. I had always loved the distraction of running and it gave me a great get away from my thoughts or from those of my family whenever things got heated.

I focused on the feel of my feet hitting the earth and propelling me faster still through the forest and the trees as I flew past them. All the minute details were still clear to me even at this speed, my eyesight being as enhanced as it was by the change.

The distraction worked well and for a while I didn't think anything about the girl or the situation revolving around her. It wasn't until I slowed that I recognised the part of the forest I was in.

Looking around as I slowed down to a human walk, I caught the familiar scent which had been on my mind constantly since we brought the girl home. Automatically, I turned in that direction and followed the path that my brothers and I took to the cabin, allowing our combined scents to pull me in.

I hesitated when I realised what I was doing, but didn't stop moving forward. Soon, the rundown cabin came into sight, exactly the same as the last time I had laid eyes on it. Slowly, I approached the door, still left ajar from our exit.

When I was inside, I glanced around the room quietly, thinking what it had been like for her living here, in this poor condition. I didn't want her to go through that ever again. I wanted to be there to protect her.

I shook my head from those thoughts and moved on, going to the bedroom where we had found her. I stood in the corner so I could look down into the corner that she had cowered in. Her scent still lingered in this place, much more strongly in the room where I was standing, and I inhaled it deeply.

As I stared sadly at that one space, my eyes caught sight of something as the miniscule amount of light reflected off of it. My feet took me to stand in the exact place I had before and I crouched down to get a better look.

All I could see through the layers of dust was a thin, golden chain. Carefully, I picked it up with my fingers, pulling out a necklace from the layer of dirt. I held it up in front of me and admired the gold locket dangling from the end.

Using my other hand, I gently cradled the locket in my palm, drawing it closer to scrutinise the detail. The front of it was outlined with a rope pattern, following the oval shape of the locket, and the space inside was entirely filled with the image of a rose; its petals spreading out to touch the rope.

It was a very intricate design, I noted, and very expensive. Probable very valuable to whoever owned it, I estimated. I turned it over in my hand and my breath inexplicably hitched at the message.

_Forever in my heart,_ it read. Underneath the fancy script, the design of a swan was engraved, as if in place of a signature. It was something that would have been personal to both the person who had given this gift and to the recipient.

I felt a sadness reading those words. From the scent surrounding it, it obviously belonged to the girl. I doubted that she would have held onto it if it wasn't hers. She must have forgotten about it when I picked her up. But, if it was hers, why wasn't she wearing it? I know it wasn't on her because I would have seen it if it had dropped from her person.

So it had been lying next to her and been left behind. I would take this back with me and return it to her. It was hers and therefore should be given back to her. As I held in it my fingers, though, I felt the temptation, the curiosity, to open it build within me.

Carefully, my finger released the catch on the side and I tentatively pulled the two halves open. Inside were two pictures, one on each side. The one on the right showed a woman with dark hair and deep green eyes, smiling out at the camera. Her hair was loose, framing her face with two plaits tied back around the crown of her head.

The other, on the left, was a picture of a man. His hair was dark, so were his eyes and there was something in their depth that showed an inner power. Instantly, I knew that he was not someone to be messed with. But still, there was a unique kindness and love reflected in his expression.

Both of them were fairly dark skinned, almost like the Native American Quileutes in La Push. This confused me. When I first saw the two people I had assumed them to be the girl's parents, but the difference in skin tone didn't make sense. The girl was too pale, far too pale even taking into account her poor condition, to be genetically related to the couple.

Adoptive parents, maybe? I wondered. I didn't recognise their faces, so they weren't living in Forks; I had seen practically every face in the small town. But there was no clue as to where they lived or where the girl had come from. I sighed and gently closed the locket with a click.

I felt slightly guilty for having pried into the girl's precious belongings, but I needed to know if there was any information that may help us find out who she was. There was nothing, though, only a couple of photos and a sentimental inscription. If we could find out who the photos were of, however, it might give us information on her.

Abruptly, I stood up, placing the locket and chain into my front jeans pocket. I would show it to Carlisle, I decided. Maybe he could find something about them.

Now that my head was clearer, the anger gone, spent out as it was, the need to be with the girl returned. Taking a last glance around the dank room, I fled its premises, leaving her scent and the reminder of her past behind.

The return run to my house was much quicker and more direct than when I had left, mostly because before I had been running merely to burn of my anger whereas now I had a purpose behind it. Alice smiled at me as I entered. "You're just in time," she said, "The girl was just about to wake up. For some reason she would have been quite upset to find you not there."

I didn't know I had been gone so long; it had felt like hardly any time. Alice's words finally registered with me and I couldn't help the massive grin that spread on my face. The girl wanted me to be there when she woke. And whatever her reason, I would make sure that I was. But first, I needed to speak to Carlisle.

_You two are both the same,_ Alice thought, rolling her eyes. _You're both happy to be around each other,_ she expanded when I gave her a questioning glance. "Carlisle's in the kitchen with Esme," she told me before bouncing off out of the room.

I shook my head at her, not sure what to make of her thoughts, and headed into the kitchen. Both parents looked up at me and smiled in greeting. Esme was standing at the stove, stirring a pan of what I assumed was the broth for the girl. I fought not to wrinkle my nose at the smell, but at least it wasn't the worst of human food.

Carlisle was sat at the kitchen table and now looked at me curiously. I sat with him, pulling out the necklace and handing it to him. He stared at it confused before turning back to me for explanation. "I found it in the same place as the girl," I explained, "I think it belongs to her."

_Do you think it could help us find out who she is?_ He questioned in his mind, already guessing where I was heading with my thought.

"Yes, I was hoping so," I admitted, watching as he turned it to read the same message I had.

He opened it to look at the pictures inside, examining every possible detail. "They don't look related to her," he noted, "I wonder who they are to her, then."

I nodded at his observation. "Yes, I thought that as well. I wondered if maybe they were adoptive parents," I shook my head and sighed, "I don't know, but it's the only things we have that will possibly help until the girl can talk to us herself."

Carlisle smiled sadly. "I can try, but I can't guarantee that I'll find anything with only a couple of photos to go off of, especially if she's not blood related to them," he spoke regretfully and I knew he wished he could do more.

"I know," I acknowledged, giving him a reassuring smile, "But we have to try."

Alice appeared behind me before he could answer and opened her thoughts to me. _She's going to wake up soon,_ she thought. I nodded to her and quickly walked past her, heading up the stairs to my old room.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I apologise deeply for having disappeared for the last, what, three months? Gosh I can't believe it's gotten so long since I last updated. But, at least I have a chapter up now. So, not much happening in this, but there are some hints to Bella's past there. Does anyone have guesses as to what she is yet? ;D What do you think about the necklace?

Someone has already managed to guess what Bella is. You know who you are ;)

Okay, next chapter will be Edward and Carlisle trying to feed Bella, so we'll see how that goes ;P. I sincerely hope it doesn't take as long to get the next chapter up, but at the moment, Uni work takes priority, so I may not be able to write very often.

Other things, Reviewers, as before, will get a preview of the next chapter once I've written some of it. Thank you again, so much, to everyone who has so far reviewed this story; it has far exceeded anything I had hoped for this story and I can't tell you how much that means to me ;D.

Really excited to hear your thoughts on this.

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	16. Great Things

**Gentle Touches**

Chapter 16 – Great Things (EPOV)

The angel woke just as I walked through the door and as Alice had predicted she immediately looked around, not noticing me standing at the door. She blinked a couple of times before her expression became worried and her heart rate increased.

When she whimpered I went quickly to her side, sitting on the bed next to her. She relaxed when she saw me and I smiled, taking one of her hands into mine. "It's okay," I whispered, "I'm here."

She gave me a small, but relieved, smile and blinked once. I smiled again and turned so I could lie down beside her. "I'm sorry I worried you," I murmured, playing my fingers through her hair. She leaned into my touch, making my smile broaden as I realised from that small action that I was forgiven.

I had to tell her what we going to do, explain it so she wouldn't be afraid, but I wanted to have this moment to ourselves. For now, it was just the two of us and even though I could hear the thoughts of my parents downstairs, they didn't matter right now.

We were both quiet, just watching the other silently. It was peaceful, but I knew it couldn't last. I sighed lightly and the girl looked at me curiously, her head tilting to the side.

I debated about how to tell her, without overwhelming her or causing her to panic. But I couldn't just dance around the topic; I needed to explain it to her straight. I shook my head. Why was I worrying so much? I didn't know that she would react negatively, for all I knew she could be quite accepting. Just because she was afraid of some things didn't mean she was afraid of everything.

"Angel," I started softly, my hand cupping her cheek, "My father wants you to try and eat something. We know that you're underweight and probably haven't eaten in awhile, but we need you to try."

She looked worried as she stared at me, her body shifting uncomfortably. I stroked her cheek soothingly, waiting for her to respond. When she did, it wasn't what I wanted. She shuddered once and shook her head minutely.

"Please, Angel," I whispered, squeezing the hand I was still holding reassuringly, "We just need you to try. It will help you get better." She looked torn, her eyes reflecting a fierce desperation. Finally, she sighed and gave me a small nod. I smiled gratefully, showing my appreciation. "Thank you, Angel."

My angel swallowed hard and clenched her eyes shut. I frowned sadly at the action. She was obviously not happy and only doing this because I asked, but it was for own good. It still didn't make me feel better though. "Hey," I soothed, stroking her hair back from her face.

She opened her eyes and gave me a shaky smile, as if she was trying to convince me she was fine with the decision, but I could see she was not. I sighed and continued to brush her hair and hold her hand, offering what comfort I could.

_Edward?_ I waited, listening out for the rest of Carlisle's thoughts. _Esme is almost finished. Will the girl be alright with me coming in there? I think it would be better; that way you can support her, otherwise you wouldn't have free hands to do both. I don't think she would be strong enough to sit up by herself._

"Of course," I answered, speaking too low for the girl to hear me. I stared at her, but she had closed her eyes again and seemed close to sleep, but somehow I knew she was still listening to me. "You're going to be alright," I murmured gently.

Her eyes flickered open and fixed on me as her fingers tightened around my hand. I smiled warmly at her, trying to ease her as the first sign of her anxiousness flooded her system. Her heart rate increased and she trembled lightly.

"Shh," I hushed her quietly, lowering my head to look her in the eye. "It's going to be okay," I said seriously, using my gaze to transmit the message to her. She calmed down, listening to my voice.

I remained focused on her, making sure she was fine while my hands still unconsciously ran through her hair, soothing her. When I was certain she was calm enough, I relaxed myself and became aware that my father was preparing to come up the stairs.

"Come on, Angel," I murmured softly, sitting up next to her and then sliding my arms around her slim body to pull her up into a sitting position. She tensed suddenly and struggled against me, tiny whimpering noises escaping her mouth as she began panicking. Berating myself for moving too fast, I stopped and tried to comfort her, my arms remaining in their hold around her.

My hand went to her cheek, stroking it carefully as I silently pleaded for her to open her eyes and look at me. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm sorry," I whispered over and over. I had forgotten, with her being so calm around me, that she was still frightful and that she didn't react well to being picked up. It was too easy to be around her now, but I was a vampire and I shouldn't have forgotten with my perfect memory.

With my mantra and calming motions, she slowly settled in my arms. Her breathing steadied and she ceased her struggling, falling limp against me. I watched her cautiously as she gathered herself and waited impatiently for her to open her eyes.

When she did, I was distraught to see there were tears pooled around their brown depths. She focused on me and they overflowed, running down her cheeks and leaving wet stains in their wake. "Hush," I soothed, my thumb wiping away the damp, salty marks and caressing her skin softly. Regret filled me as I felt the moisture on my hand. An angel shouldn't cry.

"I'm sorry, Angel," I apologised, "But I need you to sit up so you can eat something. Do you think you can do that for me?" Give her the choice, I thought. She eyed me closely, scrutinising me. I waited for her approval and thankfully she gave me a small nod of her head in consent.

Moving slowly this time, I lifted her body up and closer to mine until she was sitting with the top half of her body leaning back against me. She tried to help as much as she could, but her muscles gave out under her and so she let me do the work. Once she was sitting, she lay with her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

I frowned, concerned, at her. This was the most strenuous movement she had done other than struggling against us and she already seemed exhausted. She soon opened her again, though, when Carlisle opened the door.

She tensed as he entered and he paused to evaluate her reaction. When she did nothing further, he tentatively moved around to the other side of the bed to me and laid the bowl he was carrying in his hands on my bedside table before pulling up the desk chair to sit on.

"So, how are things this morning?" He started conversationally, purposefully ignoring the bowl when he noted her anxiety towards it. I smiled at his tactic. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

The girl narrowed her eyes slightly and gave a wary nod to his question. Carlisle smiled kindly at her in response, trying to assuage her nervousness. "I suppose Edward has explained to you what we want to do now?" She glanced back to me, the worry visible in her eyes, before going back to my father and nodding again. "Good," he smiled satisfied that she understood what was going on.

"Now," Carlisle began, picking the bowl up into his lap and grabbing the spoon I hadn't noticed earlier, "Do you think you could eat some of this?" He gestured to the bowl.

Again, the angel looked back to me for assurance, still clearly upset and getting more anxious by the moment. "You don't have to eat everything," I encouraged her, giving my father a fleeting look, "Just try to have some of it."

Hesitantly, she turned back to him and nodded her consent. "Alright," he said mildly as he filled the spoon with the soup before offering it to her. He held the spoon away from her, rather than in her face so she didn't feel forced and he waited patiently. I admired his way of handling her, especially considering she was more afraid of him than me.

After a moment of indecision, she leaned forward and took the spoon into her mouth. I smiled and rubbed her arm lightly in support, pleased that she was making an effort. She smiled falteringly when she saw and in turn my smile turned more sympathetic.

Carlisle waited to regain her attention and when he did, he filled the spoon again, repeating the process. The girl swallowed the mouthful more willingly this time, bringing a satisfied smile to my father's face.

I stayed quiet, but kept my hand on her arm, showing her that I was still here. She finished half of the bowl in this fashion before she shook her head at the next spoonful presented to her. My father looked to me and I caught the drift of his thoughts without him putting them into words.

"Just one more, Angel," I pushed lightly, giving her an upholding smile when she twisted to face me. Her eyes tightened and she looked like she wanted to fight me on the issue. "One more and you can rest," I reiterated, hoping for her to listen to me.

She contemplated the spoon doubtfully, a strangely tormented look on her face that caused a jerk in my chest and my hands to spasm in reaction to it its presence there. A pained furrow formed on her brow as she sighed and gulped the small mouthful of broth down.

Her head flopped back onto my shoulder with a solid _thunk_ that I was sure had to have hurt. I winced at the sound and lifted my cold hand to rub tenderly at the spot while Carlisle picked the bowl up, placing the spoon into it.

"You did well, poppet," he reassured her, "It will take time for your appetite to come back." I felt his urge to pat her on the shoulder; an action he used to comfort his patients in the hospital when they are need, but he resisted, remembering that she didn't respond well to the physical contact.

_I'll leave you to get her settled, Edward,_ he thought to me as he quietly left the room, carrying the half empty bowl with him. I nodded once to assure him that I would and he smiled before closing the door behind him.

"Let's get you laid back down, sweetheart," I murmured. She didn't respond, her eyes already closed as I manoeuvred her body gently so she was lying on her side again and then laid myself beside her.

My hand pressed against her cheek carefully and her eyes drifted open to stare at me questioningly. I smiled affectionately and the pads of my fingers traced invisible patterns on her skin. A small smile touched the corners of her mouth as she turned into my palm and her eyes slid shut.

I watched her face relax as she fell asleep and I admired her peaceful beauty. I could stare at her for an eternity, looking into her deep, expressional, brown eyes. I wanted to be able to hear her voice, have her talk to me and confide in me. I wanted her to trust me.

I jolted my head back and forth, ridding my mind of those thoughts. I shouldn't want that; it was bad for her to be near me. But I couldn't avoid her, either, not when I had promised myself and her that I would help her. I was torn between what I wanted and what was best for her. And still I didn't understand my desires.

The girl shuffled in her sleep, moving just that inch closer to me that I could feel the heat of her body radiating off and warming my cold, hardened skin. And I knew I couldn't let her go. Something in me was drawn to this child and somehow, I knew that I couldn't live without her. I couldn't imagine not having her around.

And that scared me. I hardly knew this girl. Really, I knew nothing about her other than something bad had obviously happened and she was in need of help. And that I desired to be the one to provide that help.

So for that reason, I would stay, against my better judgement, I would follow what my heart wanted most: to be near the girl. And I could hear Alice's voice in my head as I came to that decision.

_I see great things in your future, Edward. Trust me when I say this; you will not regret it._

Despite the anxiety for what things she could possibly mean, I found that I didn't regret anything. My heart was singing with the thought of the time that I would be able to spend with my angel.

But I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I am so sorry for such a late update. I honestly never meant to go this long leaving you hanging, time just got away from me a bit after Christmas and before I knew it, I was back at Uni and loaded down with yet more assignments.

I also apologise for not sending out the preview as I promised, but as I had this chapter already written, I figured you would prefer a whole chapter than a teaser.

So, what do you think? I know Edward is a bit angsty and doom and gloom, self-deprecating etc but that will change, I promise. They finally got her to eat! ;D I'm sure the next chapter will be a bit of a surprise as well for people.

I think this story is going to be much longer than I intended it to be, but I promise I will finish writing this before I go back and start to do the rewrite on it. Feel free to point out any mistakes, ideas for improvement, things that don't make sense etc. I will make notes to include them in the rewrite.

Reviews please! ;D I look forward to hearing what you all have to say about this new chapter. If I can, reviewers will get a tease.

Thank you for reading!

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


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